


Against All Odds

by ElisaPhoenix



Series: Against All Odds [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Affection, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst and Romance, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Peter Quill, Bottom Scott, Bullying, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Celestial Peter Quill, Child Neglect, Common Cold, Crushes, Cuddling & Snuggling, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Implied uninvolved parenting, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Male Friendship, Minor Tony Stark/Stephen Strange, Missing Persons, Neck Kissing, Oblivious Scott, Other, Protective Peter Quill, Public Humiliation, Reunions, Scott Lang Needs a Hug, Scott Lang-centric, Skittish Scott Lang, Stephen Strange is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Top Peter Quill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-18 14:49:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 40,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21729247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElisaPhoenix/pseuds/ElisaPhoenix
Summary: It's hard to make friends when you're as invisible as Scott is.It's even harder to find love.
Relationships: Scott Lang & Stephen Strange, Scott Lang/Peter Quill
Series: Against All Odds [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1795060
Comments: 63
Kudos: 158





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was actually inspired by the song If I Had You by Adam Lambert

Back and forth. Back and forth. Golden-hazel eyes watched boredly as the pencil rolled across his desk and likely annoying the rest of the class. The room was quiet, with only the sound of pencils scribbling on paper, the periodic sound of someone tapping into a calculator, and even a couple of frustrated sighs. Scott finished the test ten minutes ago as math was one of his stronger subjects, but that meant he had to sit and wait for class to be over. The upside to having to wait for another ten minutes for the bell to ring was that lunch was right after and it was taco day.

His only saving grace for the extremely slow morning he had. Plus, he was starving.

The last ten minutes felt like they stretched over an hour, but when the bell finally rang, he and every other student threw their things into their backpacks and rushed for the door of the classroom. Except there must have been a god of misery looking down on him and laughing because the teacher called him back, and Scott sighed heavily. While everyone was going to clean out the lunch stock, he had to have the same conversation that he had with a lot of his teachers. 

Was the class not challenging enough? Did he want to transfer to the more advanced classes? What was he doing outside of schoolwork? Did he have any friends to spend his time with?

Scott would only assure his teachers that he just studied hard and that yes he had friends. He only had one, but he didn't tell them that. One friend was all he needed anyway. It helped him stay invisible and he _liked_ being invisible. There was less attention and less bullies, and he definitely already had one of those...and he was a Grade A creep. The more invisible he made himself, the less the creep bothered him.

Finally, his teacher let him go after Scott made it glaringly obvious that he wanted to leave by constantly looking toward the door, but when he made it to the cafeteria, it was obvious that he missed out on the tacos. With a quiet groan, Scott sat in the far corner of the room and started to pull out his books to work on some homework, and then stopped when a tray is dropped on the table in front of him. He stared at the food in surprise when he found the tacos he was so desperately looking forward to, and looked over when someone sat next to him with their own tray. Stephen.

"I saw that your teacher kept you behind when I passed by your class so I took the liberty to get both of our lunches. I know how much you like tacos." Stephen said as he took out a book to read while he ate.  
" _Thank you._ " Scott almost moaned when he bit into his first taco and knew Stephen was rolling his eyes without having to look. "Are you sure you're not single?"  
"Very sure. Besides, I wouldn't want to take away from your daily drool--see? You're doing it now." The junior huffed from beside Scott as he stared across the cafeteria. "You're not even listening are you?"

No. No he was not. Part of the football team had come into the cafeteria and Scott indulged in his daily gawk at the captain of said team. Peter Quill. A very attractive senior and star quarterback. Most jocks were more brawn than brain, but while Quill definitely fit the bill for strong, he was pretty smart too. Not a straight A student, but he could tell you what two plus two was, and the bigger plus? He was actually a really nice guy. Not that Scott has ever personally interacted with him, but he'd seen Quill interact with other students. Even the less popular ones.

Scott was a little _too_ invisible for Quill to notice him but it wouldn't matter. The football playing senior was way out of the league of an invisible, nerdy sophomore. It was a miracle that he managed to make a friend out of Stephen. Their friendship was already an accident. Scott happened to be in the library studying and all other tables were taken, so Stephen asked if he could sit with Scott since he was the only one at his table. Stephen would always leave quietly after about an hour without saying a word to Scott, and the same thing happened about three more times until the junior finally asked him what his name was.

Scott didn't answer him for a solid minute because he was surprised someone was actually talking to him. To this day, he was still pretty sure that Stephen took him under his wing if only for the fact the Scott probably looked lonely. After getting to know Stephen, the older boy didn't seem the type, so it always left Scott a little confused whenever he took the time to think about it. Scott did muster the courage to ask Stephen if he felt sorry for him and he got an instant denial. He had no reason not to believe him.

"One of these days he's going to notice you staring at him." Stephen says from behind his book after taking a bite of his apple.  
Scott tears his gaze away from Quill and looks down with a blush. "I doubt it. I'm just one of the background people in his world. I'm not like you or him where I can just walk down the street and have someone throw themselves at me."  
Stephen side eyes him. " _What?"_  
"You're both really hot and I'm not much to look at. You even talking to me is--OW!" Scott rubs the back of his head where Stephen had not so gently smacked him with his paperback novel. "What was that for?!"  
"Whenever you word vomit, you never fail to criticize yourself. I don't think I've ever heard you say a single good thing about yourself."  
"What's there to say?"  
Stephen sighs. "Scott, you're far from unattractive. You're only invisible because you make yourself that way."  
"I like being invisible. Things are easier that way." Scott mumbles.  
"It keeps you from making friends."  
"You still saw me."

Stephen stares at him with an unreadable expression, and just when Scott was sure he was going to continue to argue with him, Stephen instead reopened his book and went back to reading. Scott figured that anybody worth befriending would see past his walls of defense, and in a way he had been right. Granted, the first year and a half of high school was friendless, but Stephen finally came around and managed to get past his walls. He accepted Scott for who he was, but he very bluntly told the sophomore that he was timid. Skittish, even.

Scott already knew that. He didn't like violence or confrontation after all.

"Why do you hide yourself when you so obviously want to be seen?" Stephen asks softly after a few quiet minutes between them.  
"I'm less likely to get hurt I guess." Scott shrugs as he finishes his lunch.  
"Loneliness hurts too. It's hurting you and you don't even realize it."  
"It hurts _less_."

Lunched passed quietly after that. Stephen read his book while Scott glanced across the room at Quill once...twice...thrice...twenty times? He lost count. This probably made him creepy. He should stop, but it was really his only chance to see Quill. They didn't have any classes together and as badly as he was crushing on the football player, Scott didn't go to any of the games. They were too noisy and there were way too many people for his liking. He liked watching football, but preferred to watch it in the comfort of his home. On TV. Stephen didn't really understand the appeal.

The rest of the day went by much faster than his morning did as the remaining classes didn't have tests or throw pop quizzes at him, and at the end of the day he found himself at his locker and switching out books he would and wouldn't need for homework. He would be visiting his locker a second time after his and Stephen's usual study hour in the school library, and that would be to put away the textbooks he managed to finish any homework with. The less he had to take home, the better.

It was also nice having a friend a year ahead and better at a subject than he was. Scott was a good student, but there were times he had trouble with a particular subject (biology, ugh), and Stephen took the time to explain it to him better than his teacher could. Their study hour is when he got his weaker subjects done, and then he worked on everything else until their hour was up. 

"Why don't we do something different today?" Stephen asks as Scott sits across from him at their usual table in the library.  
"What do you mean?"  
"After our study session we usually go home. It's Friday, so why don't we...hang out?"

Scott refrained himself from laughing at the face Stephen made at his own offer, but he could appreciate what the older boy was trying to do. It did sound kind of fun but he wasn't sure what Stephen meant by hanging out.

"What did you have in mind?"  
"Rent a couple of movies, spend the weekend doing whatever...like normal friends." Stephen shrugs and Scott stares at him.  
"You mean at my house?"  
"As long as it's okay with your parents. I'd offer my place but I have a younger brother and sister. You're an only child right?"  
"Umm yeah. My parents won't care. They're out of town anyway." Scott tells him. "Should we bother staying here?"  
"There are a few books here that I don't have and I would rather not take them with us."  
"Okay. The more homework I do here, the less I have to take home anyway."

Stephen nods and they keep to their usual hourly study session, and Scott manages to even finish all of his homework. With no tests coming up anytime soon, he didn't need to take anything home and he could focus on actually trying to have a good time with his friend. Scott gathers his things when Stephen stands up, and asks the older teen to wait for him out front while he puts his books in his locker, and then hurries out of the library. It was just going to take a couple of minutes. He would put his books in his locker and then meet Stephen outside where they would then make their way to a nearby video store before they went to his house. 

He forgot about the jocks though, or more specifically, the football team. They must have cut their practice short today, because Scott was in the middle of sticking his books in his locker when he was suddenly run into from the side by one of the players who was rushing around the corner of the hall. Scott was small, so being bumped into by a football player may as well have been a tackle. Scott was knocked to the ground with no effort and it caused him to drop the remaining books in his hands.

"Holy shit! I'm sorry!" Scott freezes at the familiar voice and he slowly looks up to find Peter Quill crouched in front of him and picking up Scott's books. "I wasn't paying attention. My bad."

Quill looks at him and Scott was convinced his heart was going to beat right out of his chest. 

_His eyes are green._

Wait. He was still talking to Scott. He probably looked like a complete dumbass because Scott knew for a fact that he was staring like one. He barely registered that the taller (and bigger; he was way bigger up close like this) teen helped him to his feet until he was staring at a broad chest. Quill hands him his books and Scott mentally berates himself for continuing to stare like a moron and blushes when the senior carefully brushes his shoulders off.

"Are you okay? I didn't hurt you did I?" Quill asks him as Scott fumbles to put his books away and then close his locker.

_Say something you idiot!_

Scott turns and opens his mouth but the words die on his tongue when Quill's eyes widen.

"Damn. You have some really pretty eyes for a guy."

That was it. That was the finishing blow to Scott's attempt to try and hold a conversation because _holy crap he said my eyes are pretty whatdoIdo?!_ Scott couldn't even manage to say thank you. He just stood there, dumbstruck, and with his mouth opening and closing like a fish. Since he couldn't seem to contribute to their one sided conversation, Scott did the next best thing. He shut his mouth, squeaked out in embarrassment, and fled. He didn't stop when Quill called out for him, he just kept on going to where he was supposed to meet Stephen with his heart hammering away in his throat.

He really was pathetic. He finally had a chance to talk to his crush and all he managed was a quiet noise before hauling ass? Maybe he really was too deep in his world of invisibility. After that scene, there was no way Quill would remember him. He might scratch his head for a few seconds, shrug it off, and then forget all about the encounter. 

So then why did that hurt so much?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think. I know High school AU's are sometimes hit and miss. Also, skittish Scott is my new favorite trope.
> 
> Quill: Senior, 18  
> Stephen: Junior, 16  
> Scott: Sophomore, 15
> 
> I'm trying to stick to their ages for possible future reasons.
> 
> Also this is an ANTLORD story. Do not request more of another ship at any point. It will be ignored. If there is to be another ship, it will be dabbled on or implied.


	2. Chapter 2

"You _ran_?"

Stephen raises an eyebrow at Scott as he bites into his hamburger and the younger teen looks down with a bright red blush. Instead of answering, he shoves some fries into his mouth and avoids his friend's searching gaze as they eat the food they picked up on the way to Scott's house. When Scott came tearing out of the school and practically dragging Stephen with him when he passes him, the junior questioned his hurry but Scott kept his mouth shut. At least until they got to his house after renting a couple of movies and picking up something to eat. Stephen was a little more persistent about asking what happened at school and with nowhere to run anymore, Scott caved.

"I was going to say something…" Scott starts timidly.  
"But?"

Scott blushes again and mumbles incoherently as he unwraps his burger and bites into it, and Stephen sighs after making the assumption that Scott wasn't going to elaborate any further. At least not for now. The younger was just fine with that. He wasn't sure what Stephen would say about Quill's comment about Scott's eyes, but he was relatively sure that Stephen would say Quill was flirting with him or something along those lines. Not a chance of that. Quill was nice to everyone, and he said it _after_ knocking Scott to the ground. It was a passing compliment. Probably to make Scott feel better.

He wouldn't know now after he ran off like a chicken with its head cut off.

"When are your parents supposed to come back?" Stephen asks and Scott shrugs.  
"I dunno. They're not here a lot. Most of the time they just send me money for food." Stephen stops his hamburger right before his mouth and gives the younger a look of astonishment.  
"Wait...when was the last time they were home?"  
"Three months ago?" Scott looks over at the calendar hanging on his wall and nods. "Yeah. That seems about right."  
"How long were they home before they left again?" Stephen asks quietly.  
"Couple of days." Scott looks back over at Stephen and his eyes widen when he notices the sympathy in the older boy's eyes. "It's not a big deal!"  
"It explains a lot."

Before Scott could even open his mouth to ask Stephen what he's talking about, the older teen holds up a movie. The younger nods, effectively ending their odd conversation, and they spend the rest of the day watching their movies and eating junk food in the living room. They of course kept the horror movie for later that night, but it ended up being so terrible that both of the boys fell asleep in the middle of it, and even slept through the night. A lot of the weekend was spent like that. Watching movies, Scott fiddling with some electronic or other while Stephen read a book and they had the t.v. on as background noise, and just good old conversations. Nothing as weird as Friday night, but regular teenager stuff. Scott actually felt a little normal for once. He had a friend sleeping over, and it helped fill the void of loneliness Scott felt. 

Stephen was right. He was lonelier than he originally thought, but that was because he was so used to an empty house. Scott was so used to being alone and invisible that that was how he made himself at school. It was all he knew. That was why when Stephen first talked to him _properly_ at school, not only was he genuinely surprised, but he also wasn't sure how to handle the situation.

Was that what happened with Quill too? Sure, Scott having a huge crush on him was a big factor, but maybe he still wasn't used to the attention. He knew how to handle teachers, but other students? Other people? They just brushed by him like he didn't exist. Even his parents were guilty of that sometimes, and Scott was honestly surprised they remembered to send him money for food. They took care of the house bills and whenever they were home, they barely looked his way every now and then let alone talked to him. Scott didn't mind much. He was grateful for the roof over his head and that they at least remembered to send him grocery money.

Stephen stayed at his house until Sunday afternoon, and when the older boy left, the house had never felt emptier. He was suddenly very aware of how quiet it was and wondered why it never felt like this whenever his parents left for another business trip. Maybe because he was used to that. Having Stephen over for the weekend was new and different though.

Or maybe it was the fact that Stephen said he had to go watch his siblings while his parents went out for the night. Scott always saw families interacting with each other, or he heard his classmates complain about a sibling or an unfair punishment their father gave them...and he wanted that. He wanted to have parents that asked him how his day at school was, that grounded him for a bad grade or misbehavior, or that he could spend a vacation with. Scott told Stephen that being home alone all the time was no big deal, but he only said that to get that sympathetic look off his face.

He was used to it. Being invisible was a part of his life.

So when Monday finally rolled around, Scott acted as if Stephen didn't know about his home life, and to his relief, the older boy didn't bring it up. Things were still the same at school. He had his morning classes, he and Stephen sat at their usual table for lunch, and once Scott was done eating he pulled out his books to get a head start on his homework. Only, his textbook for math was missing.

Scott sighs. "I left my math book in class."  
"Then go get it. It's lunch period." Stephen says without looking up from his own homework.  
"I'll be right back. Don't drink my juice." The younger replies before getting up from the table.

Stephen doesn't respond as Scott walks away, and he makes his way through the halls to his math class, barely noticing that his teacher was inside talking to another student. He was just going to slip in, grab his book, and slip out and no one would notice he was even there. So he opens the door quietly and heads over to his desk to grab his textbook sitting innocently on the surface, and when he picks it up, the teacher calls out to him.

"Ah, Scott!"

Well so much for not being noticed.

"Sorry. I was just getting my book. I'm leaving again." Scott mumbles as he turns back toward the door.  
"Oh. So you _can_ talk." Scott almost jumps out of his skin at the sound of Quill's voice. "I thought you might have been mute."  
The teacher looks between the two. "I see you know each other. Scott here is one of my top students…"

Did Scott look like a frightened rabbit? He felt like one. In fact, he felt like a bug under a microscope with the way Quill was scrutinizing him from across the room. Crap, was this what Scott was doing every day at lunch? Quill never seemed to notice but if he did, this is probably what he would feel like. Scott should really stop staring then...and maybe start paying attention to the conversation that he was obviously a part of since both the teacher and Quill were looking at him expectantly.

"What?" Scott manages to wheeze out.

_First you run away and now you're standing around like a dumbass._

"I already have three students I'm tutoring, but I don't have the time for a fourth. You understand the material so would you be willing to help out Peter?" His teacher says.  
Scott's eyes nearly bulge out of his head once he processes the request. "Huh?"

_Now you just look stupid._

"I-I'm only a Sophomore sir." The younger stammers out.  
"That doesn't change the fact that you know the math." The teacher leads Quill over toward Scott, and then both students out the door. "You'll do fine. Now excuse me while I try to eat lunch before the period is over."

The teacher closes the door behind them and Scott squirms uncomfortably bed to Quill, making sure to stare intently at the floor and avoid eye contact with the senior. He just wanted to get his book...and now somehow he was roped into helping his crush with his math homework? Had he actually agreed to it? His head was still spinning from how fast it all happened.

"Are you okay with this?" Quill finally asks and Scott nods once. "Okay...I have football practice everyday, so should we meet somewhere afterwards?"  
"I...I go to the library to study for a little while after school. I can stay there."   
"Cool. So I guess I'll meet you after school?"

Scott nods and for the second time in a week, he races away from Quill and rejoins Stephen in the cafeteria. The older boy looks up when Scott sits at the table after dropping his textbook on it, and straightens his back when he notices the younger staring a hole into the table.

"Scott?"

The sophomore word vomited. He told Stephen everything that happened in the span of the five minutes he was gone, and Scott could tell that Stephen was trying not to laugh. 

"What?!" Scott asks him helplessly.  
"Nothing...I guess life is just finally making things up to you." Stephen says with a wave of his hand and the younger frowns at him.  
"Shoving my crush in my face like this when nothing can happen is not a favor."

Stephen frowns again but doesn't say anything more, and when the bell rings, they quietly pack up and make their way to their next classes. The rest of the day was nerve wracking for Scott. All he could think about was the 'tutoring' session rapidly coming up and how desperately he didn't want to make himself look like a bigger loser. He already fled from the senior twice and the first time made Quill think Scott was mute, and then he fled the second time with as little interaction as possible. With this _homework_ session coming up (tutoring just sounded wrong to him), Scott wasn't going to be able to run and that was a scary thought.

He actually asked Stephen if he could stick around for the impending meeting with Quill, when they met in the library after school, but the older boy shook his head.

"I can't. I have things to do at home."

Well so much for Stephen's support, even if would have just been in presence. His friend left him to kill another hour of time while Scott waited for Quill to finish with practice, and he eventually got sucked into one of his assignments that he lost track of time. He was in the middle of writing down an answer to a history question when a voice spoke to him and very easily spooked him.

"Hey--oh shit. Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you!" Quill exclaims when Scott visibly jumps and sits upright in surprise. 

When the hell did he get there? Scott didn't even hear him walk in or sit down or anything, but here Quill was, already sitting across from him and freshly showered. That was good. Scott was hoping he would take the time to shower off all of the dirt and sweat he accumulated during practice so he wouldn't have to smell it for the next hour. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Scott wondered what Quill looked like all sweaty and--

_Stop. Stop that right now. Don't daydream about him while he's sitting right in front of you with his mus-_

Scott had to gag his thoughts and kick them down the proverbial steps and into the cold dark basement of his mind. Quill wasn't here for him to gawk at. He was here for help with math and that's all Scott was going to do. He was also going to make himself look like an idiot again because Quill obviously asked him something as he was looking at Scott intently again.

"Sorry...what?"  
"Where do you want to start?" Quill repeats.  
 _I can think of a few places._ Scott winces and kicks those thoughts down to his mind basement as well. "Do your homework I guess and then I could look it over and then help you with what you missed."  
"Sounds good."

While Quill did his homework though, Scott was completely distracted. He tried to focus on his own homework but all he could think about was how big Quill really was up close like this (and how intimidating it was), the smell of soap and shampoo coming off of him in waves, and that if Scott stretched his legs out he would very easily touch Quill's. He could easily prop his feet in the senior's lap. Having Stephen sit across from him was one thing, the older boy was tall so they did periodically brush against each other when one of them stretched out, but Quill seemed to take up _a lot_ more space. Not only was he tall (taller than Stephen even), he was also broad and it made Scott feel very, very small.

_He's big. Huge. Big. Big. Big._

His thoughts were going to be the death of him.

"Here." Quill suddenly says after about half an hour. Scott looks up from the paper he was staring at the entire time when the other teen pushes his notebook over to him, and checks Quill's work.  
"You missed a lot...but you have an idea of what to do. You just skipped a couple of steps." Scott explains as he pushes the homework back to Quill.

The next half hour was Scott explaining the steps that Quill missed, and he managed not to stumble over his words as he explained it. It was nothing short of a miracle. Regardless of his huge crush, Scott was still relieved when their homework session was over. The past hour was frayed on his nerves and he just wanted to go home and recover from the stress of it, and hopefully prepare himself for the next few weeks of doing this every weekday.

"Thanks for the help. You make it easier than the teacher does." Quill says as they pack up their things.  
"Sure."  
"Do you want a ride home?"

Another ten minutes of tension?

"No thank you. I have a few things I need to do on the way home." Scott says, and it wasn't really a lie.  
"I don't mind helping you run a couple of errands. It's the least I can do after keeping you at school like this." Quill insists.  
"One of them isn't very quick. I have some grocery shopping to do." Scott immediately kicks himself for telling the senior that. Especially when Quill gives him a funny look.  
"Don't one of your parents do that?"  
"Usually." Scott lies. "They're out of town right now though so I need to do it this time."  
"I still don't mind, and it would make things easier for you since I have a car. You wouldn't need to carry everything home. I'm assuming you're not at the driving age at least."

Damn. He made a good argument. Scott went grocery shopping at least three times a week because he couldn't buy everything at once and carry it all home. It was too much. But doing his shopping with Quill trailing behind him?

"No. It's fine. Thanks."

_Coward._


	3. Chapter 3

Scott went grocery shopping like he had admitted to Quill, but he just had one question repeating in his mind.

_How the hell did he end up in this situation?!_

Namely that he was doing more grocery shopping than he usually did and had _Quill trailing behind him_. He specifically remembered telling the senior he didn't need a ride, but Quill apparently wasn't having it and successfully ushered him to his car without Scott realizing it. At least until they were actually at the vehicle and Quill opened the passenger door for him. Scott's body moved of its own accord before his brain could catch up, but when it finally did, Quill was already driving them to the store. He tried to tell the older teen that this was more than enough and that he can get home by himself…but nope. 

Quill was determined to take him home.

Scott figured he might as well take advantage of Quill's persistent kindness and get _all_ of the groceries he needed, however, it wore on his already frayed nerves. He was very aware of the senior directly behind him and grabbing a few things for himself, and Scott made the trip as quick as he possibly could. The faster he got his shopping done, the faster Quill would take him home and he could finally get out of this situation. A situation he had been dreaming to be in for the past year and a half, but also made him uneasy. Reality wasn't as nice as the dreams. Quill was nice and much bigger than he seemed from Scott's far away views, but he was also popular. He had girls and even some guys (including him) falling at his feet for just the chance to date him, and they were all much more attractive than Scott.

No matter what Stephen said about Scott's looks...it would never happen. Quill was just being nice. This was all just a thank you for help with his math homework, and Scott was pretty sure that Quill was in a relationship anyway. He couldn't say who though. Scott tended to ignore any girlfriends Quill had on his arm. That was another thing. Quill was most definitely straight as he had never seen the senior date a guy. Another reason Scott's fantasies wouldn't come true.

"You finished?" Quill asks, breaking through Scott's haze of thought.  
"Oh...uh, yeah." Scott murmurs.

They make their way to the registers and Scott pays for the food once it's all rung up, and they take the groceries out of the cart to carry to the car so they can leave the cart by the doors. After loading the car up, Scott gets in and gives the senior directions to his house, and because he actually had to pay attention to do that, he noticed something.

Quill smelt like cinnamon.

That was just an extra detail to add to Scott's perverted fantasies and he was starting to feel bad. Quill was taking extra time out of his day to help Scott run errands before taking him home and here he was soaking in every detail about the older teen. 

When they finally pulled into the driveway of Scott's house, Quill was about to get out of the car but Scott stopped him. "I can manage from here. Thanks."  
"You sure?" 

Scott nods and unbuckles his seatbelt, and scrambles out of the car after grabbing his backpack. He walks to the back of the car and grabs every single bag from the trunk and hurries to the front door while muttering a quick thanks as he passes by the open window of the passenger door. He drops some of his groceries by the door so he can fumble for the keys to the house, completely ignoring Quill who was undoubtedly watching him, and the second he unlocks and opens the front door he dashes inside with all of his bags. He slams the door behind him, and with a shuddering sigh he leans against it and slides down to the ground.

He couldn't let Quill do anything like this anymore. The hour in the library was bad enough. Everything else was pure torture on his poor pining heart. His heart believed there was a miniscule chance of something happening between him and Quill...but his brain knew better. His heart was what caused him the pain though.

He had to get out of this crush somehow. He couldn't handle the false hope.

===========

Not crushing on Quill was turning out to be harder than Scott thought. He knew it would be hard but he didn't think it would be _impossible_. Every day was still the same. Scott looked across the cafeteria at Quill when he wasn't looking, and Stephen would ditch him after their usual hour after school so Scott could be alone with Quill for another hour. With an hour break in between of course. After the tutoring session, Scott would argue that he could walk home just fine, but ninety percent of the time, he always found himself in his crush's car and on the way to his house.

On Thursday, Scott was caught looking at Quill...by the senior himself. The older teen happened to look over in Scott's direction while the sophomore was having his usual gawking moment, and Scott looked away with a surprised sputter and a blush when Quill smiled at him.

_He's just being nice. He's just being nice._

"I told you." Stephen says with a delicate snort and Scott takes to staring down at his tray of food.  
"Shut up." He looks next to him at the older boy when Stephen nudges his shoulder with a juice box, and Scott takes it with a quiet thanks. 

As soon as he punches the straw through the designated foil covered hole, he props his elbow on the table and rests the side of his face in his hand, gazing off into the distance (not Quill's direction though). Not much homework was assigned this week so he didn't have much to do except maybe daydream. So while Stephen read a book (a new one; Scott was almost positive this was his fourth one in two weeks), the younger lazily drank his juice and just stared into space. No thinking, no daydreaming...just him enjoying a clear mind.

It lasted all of thirty seconds before he was glancing back in Quill's direction out of his peripheral, and his stomach dropped at what he saw. One of the cheerleaders, probably head cheerleader, was rubbing her hands up and down Quill's arms as she pressed herself up against him and it had Stephen scoffing in disgust. Scott tore his gaze away from the rather lewd display to look at his friend and Stephen motions his hand toward it, causing Scott to look back at it more obviously.

He hoped Quill didn't notice he was looking this time.

"You know everyone calls her the school whore. It's no wonder." Stephen explains.  
"She's still more his type."  
"Oh. The look of repulsion Quill is giving her threw me off. My mistake." Stephen says sarcastically and Scott tilts his head to watch the scene across the room.

Quill really was looking unimpressed with the cheerleader's (Scott could _not_ remember her name for the life of him) flirting, both physical and verbal, and Scott's eyebrows shot up when the senior pushed her away. Not harshly, but he grabbed one of her hands that had settled on his upper arm and took it off of him in obvious disdain. He said something to her that had her pouting, but when he continued to stare her down, she seemed to give up and leave the cafeteria with a couple of her friends close behind.

Maybe Quill really was in a relationship. Or maybe he really wasn't interested in her or her advances...or both. Just looking at her from the other side of the room had Scott's skin crawling and he'd hate to think how he would feel if he actually had to interact with her. He avoided the more popular kids for a reason, but thankfully his study sessions with Quill didn't seem to bother them. He remained off their radar.

"If you keep looking, he'll catch you again." Stephen teases and Scott chokes on the sip of juice he had taken as he looks away from Quill again.  
"I wasn't…" Scott clears his throat to relieve the slight burning in his throat. "I wasn't the only one looking. So was half the cafeteria."  
"Nevermind that. I just need to tell you before I forget that I can't stay behind after school today." Stephen informs him and Scott felt his face fall. "My family caught the flu that's going around so they need me home to help."  
"Oh...well I'll have to find a way to kill two hours instead of one before Quill shows up." Scott mutters.

Stephen gives him a small, apologetic smile just as the bell rings, signaling the end of the lunch period, and the two gather their things after dumping their trays. Scott spent the rest of the afternoon staring out the window, and grimaces at the pouring rain. For once, Scott might actually accept Quill's offer to take him home instead of arguing so he doesn't have to walk in that downpour. At least more than he had to.

Fate had different plans.

Quill came up to him right after the last class of the day when Scott was at his locker, and the younger boy jumped when he closed it and saw the senior standing next to him.

"Hey." The older teen greets casually and Scott gulps.  
"...hi." He mutters.  
"So...I can't make it to the library today. I've got a lot of things to get done after practice and it has to be done today--"  
"It's fine." Scott interrupts, biting his lip for doing so. "We have the same homework and it's mostly review stuff so you shouldn't need my help anyway. One day won't hurt you."  
"Okay. Good. It's just today. I'll see you tomorrow?" Quill asks and then pats Scott's shoulder as he moves past him once the younger boy nodded.

Scott ignores the phantom burn where Quill had touched him as he slings his backpack over his shoulder, and inhaled deeply before walking out the front doors to brave the onslaught of rain. He wasn't even twenty feet from the door and he was already soaked through his clothes. Scott almost felt bad for the football team but with this kind of weather, an impending thunderstorm, they would take it easy in the gym. The coach wouldn't risk getting half the team sick or even getting struck by lightning. Very unlikely but some of the equipment they used had metal and it was still a plausible concern.

It took twenty minutes for Scott to walk home on a good day, but in conditions like these, it took an extra ten minutes since he was more careful about the cars driving around him. The onslaught minimized their visibility and he didn't want to get hit by a car because they couldn't see him. When he finally got home, he went straight for the shower to warm up and then left his soaked clothes in the tub, and was glad he had his own bathroom so he didn't have to walk down the hallway to get back to his room and put some dry clothes on. As soon as he was dressed again, he bundled up with a big blanket on the couch after making himself some hot cider, and watched a movie. 

The house felt even lonelier during a thunderstorm, especially since he didn't like them. He wasn't necessarily afraid of them, but they were loud and intimidating and made him feel even smaller. It was the kind of weather that made Scott wish even more that he had parents that were home more often, even if it was just to fill the emptiness of the house with worthless chatter. The tv was not a good substitution for that.

Scott did manage to fall asleep in the middle of a second movie after he finished his cider and ate dinner, and while the storm lasted to the next morning, it didn't wake him once. What did wake him though was the incessant knocking on his door and he felt _awful_. His head felt full of cotton, his throat was sore, and when he coughed it came out sounding congested. He wouldn't have even bothered getting up to answer the door but the knocking didn't stop, and he had to garner what little energy he had just to slide off the couch. Scott wraps the blanket around himself and coughs harshly into it before opening the door and finding Stephen standing on his porch.

Not just him either. Quill was standing right behind him, and for once...Scott couldn't find it in him to care. He just opened the door further and walked back to the couch to collapse back onto it while Stephen and Quill let themselves in. The two whispered amongst themselves in the kitchen and just as Scott was starting to wonder when they got so friendly or why they were even here, he bolted up into a sitting position.

It was Friday.

Scott looks at the digital clock on the side table closest to him and he stares at it in shock.

It was half past three in the afternoon. He missed school. While Stephen coming to check on him wasn't a huge surprise (especially since the older teen now knew he was always home alone), he was wondering why the hell Quill was here too. Didn't he have practice? He wouldn't have noticed Scott's absence until about five.

Another wet cough escapes from Scott's throat and a glass of water is shoved into his hands along with a couple of pills when he finally stops.

"Take those." Stephen orders as he walks back to the kitchen.  
"What are you doing here?" Scott asks hoarsely after taking the medicine.  
"You never came to lunch today so I asked some of your teachers if you were in class." His friend answers before motioning to Quill. "Practice was canceled today since the storm is still going strong."  
"The coach wants us to rest." The senior elaborates further. "Stephen came and found me after school to tell me you weren't at school today and wouldn't be helping me with my homework...so we picked up some stuff for you and came here to check on you."

Scott nods numbly, looking out the window to confirm that it was indeed still storming outside, and then lays down after turning the tv on. He heard some stern mumbling just before he heard a small smack, and Scott would have laughed when he saw Quill walking away from the kitchen rubbing his hand if he didn't feel so god awful. The noise...the noise was comforting. He heard Stephen cooking something in the kitchen, Quill was griping under his breath as he sat on the floor in front of the couch Scott was currently hogging, and the tv filled the house with its own noise.

Even if it was just because of his friend and the guy he has a crush on, the house was actually starting to feel like a home. It hasn't felt like that in years.


	4. Chapter 4

Scott fell asleep again after he managed to eat what Stephen had made for him, but another coughing fit woke him up about half an hour later. A quick glimpse around the living room in front of him showed that Stephen and Quill were absent and Scott assumed that they took off. He wouldn't blame them, they had other friends or families they could go to and Scott appreciated that Stephen even took the time to make sure he was okay. Quill was also a pleasant surprise but Scott took his presence with a grain of salt. He probably gave Stephen a ride and only decided to check on him--

He was starting to sound like a broken record player. Quill wouldn't want him. There. He could admit things and accept them.

He didn't have to like it though.

Scott releases one last cough into his blanket before turning over and closing his eyes, and almost opens them again when he hears someone shuffling cards. Were Stephen and Quill still here?

"I think he's still asleep." Quill says from the direction of the dining table.  
"Why are you still here? I told you I would be staying with him tonight so I don't need a ride." Stephen asks.  
"Hey, he takes time out of his day to help me with math and I know he didn't want to in the first place. It's the least I can do." Quill answers.

The following moment of silence is filled by the sound of shuffling cards.

"Okay...now tell me the real reason." Stephen says calmly.  
"What?!" Quill sputters.

There was silence again, and Scott was confused. Why did Stephen think that Quill had another reason for tagging along with him? The staying part was a little weird, but that was just the kind of guy Quill was. He was nice to most everyone unless someone gave him a reason not to. Scott could tell the silence wasn't true silence after a few seconds because he could feel the tension in the air, and that usually meant one thing.

Stephen was staring Quill down.

It was a very uncomfortable experience and always successfully got Scott to cave and admit whatever Stephen was suspecting when the older boy used it on him. It was a look that made it feel like Stephen was staring into his very soul and discovering every untold secret without Scott having to say a word. He was weak compared to Quill. The senior would no doubt return the stare with one of his own and they would at least come to a stand still since Stephen's was nothing to underestimate.

Quill actually caved as well but whatever he said was too quiet for Scott to hear.

"I had a suspicion." Stephen mutters and Scott could _hear_ his smug smile.  
"You said you were staying with him tonight, right?" Quill wonders. "Is there something going on…?"  
"No. We're just friends." Stephen informs him and the sound of a glass being set down on the table follows shortly after.  
"Where are his parents?"  
"Out of town."  
"Still?!"

_No no no. Please don't say anything. I don't need or want his pity._

"What do you mean?" Stephen asks carefully.  
"His parents were out of town on Monday!" Quill exclaims. "When are they supposed to get back?"  
"...I couldn't tell you. It's going on four months."

_Stephen, you dick._

"Are you taking care of him because you feel sorry for him?" Quill asks.  
"Of course not. He's my friend. I just happen to know that he has no one to rely on. Scott doesn't know what it's like to be taken care of. He's not just invisible at school. His parents apparently barely manage to send him money for food." Stephen admits quietly.  
"That's fucked up."  
"I agree...but whatever your intentions are, don't do it because you pity him. If you hurt him, I will come after you." 

Whoa. Scott didn't think that Stephen actually cared about him that much. He didn't even know what to think about that. What he did know was that it filled part of a huge hole in his heart. A hole he didn't even realize he had. Was it caused by the years of constant cold shoulders he got from his parents? He couldn't recall a single good memory from his childhood. For as long as he could remember, interaction from his parents was few and far between. They did the bare minimum to keep him alive and the moment he could walk to school by himself, they stopped dropping him off and picking him up. 

There was never a nanny or a babysitter to give him more proper care. Business trips became a constant when Scott was old enough to be left home alone for long periods of time, and then his parents were gone all the time. Scott had to teach himself how to cook, how to do laundry, and even how to budget the money his parents sent him twice a month. He didn't know what praise was. Didn't know a parent's love.

No kiss on the cheek or forehead at bedtime from his mother, no pat on the shoulder or hair tussling from his father for getting a good grade, no hugs...no anything. He'd seen people hug each other and he so desperately wanted to know if it was as nice as it looked. Scott was so touch deprived that he lived vicariously through watching others interact.

Love was foreign to him in every way, shape, and form. At least until now. Was that what this warm feeling was when Stephen threatened Quill? He heard that friendships were a form of love. How pathetic was he to not know something like that?

"On a lighter note…" Quill starts. "Want me to go out and get the three of us dinner and a few movies?"  
"Maybe two of us since Scott can't really taste anything with his cold.. and I don't know what your taste in movies is like. I think Scott has a few to choose from." Stephen answers and Quill shrugs.  
"Dinner?"  
"I think I'll make something tonight."

Scott dozed off after that and didn't wake until Stephen woke him with a light dinner waiting on the coffee table for him. He picked at it while the other two found his decently sized movie collection and surprisingly agreed on one, and he managed to eat most of his dinner before lying back down again. That had been about twenty minutes into the movie. Stephen gave him more medicine just before he fell asleep again five minutes later, and dozed in and out of consciousness for the rest of the night. He heard some whispering during one of his moments when he was between sleep and awareness, but he wasn't completely alert. Scott was actually on the brink of sleep when the couch disappeared from under him.

He must be dreaming. He's had weird floaty dreams like this when he was sick before, but he never smelled cinnamon in them. That was definitely new. Scott just chalked it up to his brain trying to comfort him in some way as the feeling of cushions came back under him. He just garnered enough energy to roll onto his side and wrap his blanket around him before falling back into a decently heavy sleep.

When Scott woke again, his head felt less cottony, but his throat still hurt. Which was no surprise considering how much he had been coughing yesterday. The cough wasn't gone yet either. It was just as harsh and congested as the day before and was unfortunately what woke him up. Scott had to sit up in bed so he could try to get some oxygen into his lungs, and when the coughing fit finally passed, he looked around his bedroom. The sunlight pouring through the--

Hold on.

His bedroom?

He most certainly fell asleep on the couch, and as far as he knew he wasn't a sleep walker since nothing like this had happened before. Maybe he was sick enough that he walked upstairs to his bedroom without much clarity to remember it? He'd never done that before either. Stephen wasn't strong enough to carry him, let alone all the way upstairs.

But Quill might be.

_Oh my god...the cinnamon._

His dream wasn't a dream after all. The couch didn't disappear because he was having a floaty dream, it disappeared because Quill _lifted him from it_. The upperclassman that Scott had an enormous crush on and was tutoring, not only came to his house with Stephen to check on him, but carried him to bed! Scott knew the guy was nice but this seemed a little excessive even for Quill.

Scott shakes the thought away and climbed out of bed (albeit a bit woozily) and grabs a clean black shirt and black sweatpants before walking into his bathroom to take a shower. He stood with his forehead placed on the tiled wall in the hopes that the steam would help with his foggy head and his congested cough a little more, and sluggishly got dried and dressed once he was through with his shower. To his delight, his appetite was better than the previous day and he hoped he would be able to taste his food this time. He just needed to make his way down to the kitchen and try to figure out what looked or sounded good. 

When he got down to the foot of the stairs, he was surprised at what he saw in the living room. Stephen was sleeping on the couch with a blanket he probably had to go looking for (there was a closet in the downstairs hall with some extra blankets), and a pillow that Scott definitely didn't use. That was actually expected based off the conversation he overheard yesterday. What was _really_ surprising was seeing Quill passed out on the floor, with a pillow and blanket (that was barely covering his lower half), and the glaringly obvious fact that the senior had stripped down to his boxers for bed.

Fate was incredibly unkind to him before, but now it was dangling his half naked crush in front of him, and Scott could do nothing. Nothing but turn, shuffle into the kitchen, and look through the fridge for something to eat. Scott couldn't expect Stephen to continue to take care of him, and he had every intention to thank him and Quill for checking on him and taking care of him last night and then have them go home, but his body had different ideas. 

Scott's vision swam as he reached for some yogurt, and then he felt himself falling sideways until he hit the ground with an audible thud. Just loud enough to wake his guests of course.

"What the fuck was that?" Quill demands as Scott groans from his impact with the floor.  
Stephen was the first to show up and he closed the refrigerator door before kneeling next to the younger teen. "What are you doing out of bed?"  
"'S okay...I can take care of myself. Just slipped." Scott slurs as his friend helps him up. "Just make the room stop spinning an' I'll be golden."  
Stephen ignores him and looks behind Scott. "Help him to the couch."

Scott feels himself being pushed back gently until his back collided with the wall, and he blinks when the wall moves and directs him toward the couch. It took a few seconds for Scott's brain to catch up and realize that the wall was actually Quill, but he was already sitting on the couch when he finally managed to process that little tidbit. Actually, Scott was being kindly pushed down so that he was laying instead of sitting, and he felt himself melting into a puddle of goo when the same hand that had pushed him, started massaging the back of his neck.

"Tha's nice…" Scott mumbles as his eyes close.

An affectionate gesture. He was sick and someone was comforting him with a gentle massage and Scott couldn't stop himself from drinking it in. Someone was giving him attention, and while part of him wanted to run and hide, another _bigger_ part wanted to enjoy it while he could.

_It's Quill you ginormous dumbass! Quill is giving you the attention! He's the one touching you!_

Scott didn't care at the moment. The gesture was more important because he's never been given any kind of affection before. The world had always kept going around him and he felt stuck in a dark corner of it because he was always ignored. He was ignored and neglected so much that Scott used to question his existence, but this small gesture? It was the first sliver of light to visit the dark corner of his reality. Scott almost wanted to cry because someone (besides Stephen) finally saw him and he wanted that light to envelop him. He wanted more.

"Scott? What do you want to eat?"

Scott was too blissed out from the tiniest gesture to answer.

"I think I put him to sleep." Quill responds as quietly as possible.

Scott didn't bother correcting him, and it didn't matter after a couple more seconds of his neck massage. He fell asleep again, and it was the best thirty minutes of sleep he ever had.


	5. Chapter 5

Stephen and Quill stayed with Scott until Sunday, and after being told by the junior to stay home on Monday as well, Scott was back at school on Tuesday. The cotton in his head was gone, and his sore throat not as bad but still bothering him since he was still coughing. His cough was still present and a little congested but he felt a lot better than he did over the weekend and he had more energy. At least enough energy to get through school without collapsing or passing out. The cough was the bigger issue.

Scott coughs into his elbow after he opens his locker and a small bag half filled with individually wrapped cough drops in thrust right in front of his face. He follows the arm connected to the hand and blushes bright red when he finds it attached to Quill. The football player already spent his weekend hanging out at Scott's with him and Stephen to help take care of him...and now he was giving him cough drops? Why? Did he feel bad that Scott didn't have parents to rely on and Stephen had the right idea about stepping up? Scott didn't want his pity. He's been just fine all these years.

"I figured these would help you get through the day."  
"Why are you doing this?" Scott blurts out before he can stop himself.  
"I've only known you for a week, but I like what little I've gotten to see...and I want to get to know you better." Quill says and Scott looks away to grab his books out of his locker.  
"You've seen everything. Even the bad parts."  
"Not everything." Scott stiffens when the senior shoves the bag of cough drops into the front pocket of his sweater. "I have yet to see you smile." Quill smiles at him. "I'll see you after practice."

Scott watches in bewilderment as Quill walks away, and he pulls the bag of cough drops out of his pocket after closing his locker. There was still some extra weight in the pocket of his sweater though, and when Scott stuck his hand back in his pocket, he came away with a Capri Sun. He definitely didn't come to school with it, so the only explanation was that Quill snuck it in with the cough drops. Now Scott just wanted to know if it was another kind gesture or if Quill somehow found out that he loved juice.

Either way, they were both nice to have. Especially the drops. They lessened the frequency of his coughing and were heaven on his sore throat, but no matter how much relief they brought him, Scott seemed to have a bigger...problem. People were looking at him. In class, in the hallways between periods, _everywhere_. Everyone whispered to each other as they watched him walk by and it had Scott extremely uncomfortable. Why was he suddenly visible to everyone? He doubted that they noticed he missed Friday and Monday because he was sick, and he had a feeling that it didn't have to do with that anyway. Maybe.

It was even worse at lunch. The staring was more obvious as he walked to the corner of the lunch room to his and Stephen's usual table, and he hated it. While Stephen was right when he said Scott wanted some kind of attention, this wasn't the kind he wanted. This was specifically why he made himself invisible. Scott just wanted to know why everyone was suddenly looking at him so he could make it stop. He wasn't about to ask though. He just took to ignoring the stares as he picked at his food and waited for Stephen to join him. 

Ten minutes into lunch, Scott only managed to eat half of his meal before his throat started to protest and Stephen still hadn't shown up. He was possibly caught up with a teacher like Scott had been last week and Scott didn't want to be in the cafeteria any longer than he had to be. He could go to the library until lunch was over, as most students that suddenly realized he existed were ones that wouldn't go there unless it was required of them. Sometimes not even then.

Scott gets up from the table with his tray and backpack and as he gets closer to the trash cans to dump his tray, the head cheerleader and a couple of her friends step in his path. He attempts to move around them, but when they continue to block him and then fold their arms, Scott glances at them warily. Every one of his nerves screamed at him to run when he saw the nasty glares the cheerleaders were giving him, but he was frozen to the spot. What did they want with him?

"So _you're_ the reason Peter didn't come to the mall with the rest of us like he said he would." The head cheerleader ( _Rachel_ , Scott finally remembers) says with a grimace, and holds her hand up when Scott opens his mouth to defend himself. "I don't want to hear any of your lame excuses or your lies." It was now that the cafeteria had grown dead silent because Rachel was extremely loud and calling attention to herself...and Scott. "I saw you with him in the library but I let it slide because it looked like you were just helping him with homework. But then one of my girls saw you with Peter at the grocery store."

What? He was seen with Quill twice in one day, on the first day their tutoring sessions started? Just how much free time did these people have?

"I let that slide too. I thought maybe it was a coincidence or he was thanking you for the help. But then he never showed up at the mall on Saturday." Rachel continues, and Scott was wondering why Quill not being there was such a big deal. "I found out yesterday it was because he went to _your_ house. Not even for homework help either. He went because the only friend you have told him you weren't at school. He ended up staying all weekend because you were sick and no one was home to take care of you."

Scott gulps visibly, agitating his sore throat, and he had to hold back the urge to cough. How did she know that? Stephen wasn't one to tell, so maybe Quill did? Not that Scott believed Quill meant for this to happen. His football buddies probably asked where he was all weekend and Quill told them. It was very likely a simple question he answered was overheard by the wrong people and rumors spread like wildfire. Of course in just a few hours, everyone would know that Scott existed and it wouldn't be in a good way. How much did Rachel know?

"It doesn't take much to look into someone here. I know all about your parents. They're still not home are they?" Scott's eyes widen. "You know you were an accident right? The reason your parents are almost never home anymore is because they don't want you. They never did. How sad is it to have parents that have to leave their own house to get away from you?"

Deep down Scott knew that. It was the explanation. But to hear it from someone else? It brought the harsh reality crashing down on him and breaking his very fragile bubble of feigned ignorance. He knew he shouldn't listen to her, but unfortunately, her words were almost positively true.

"You're worthless. You mean nothing to your parents, the only friend you have is only your friend because he pities you, and Peter is only nice to you because you do his homework. You might as well be nothing."

The cafeteria remained silent. The tension hung heavily in the air, and Scott had to actually hold back his tears. He _knew_ he wasn't wanted. He knew that he could very easily step outside the school's front doors, never come back, and no one would notice or care. He could run away and no one would even file a missing persons report on him. Just five minutes ago he thought maybe at least Stephen would notice, but the older boy wasn't even here right now and it made Scott wonder if Rachel's claim about Stephen was true too. That Stephen only pitied him. That he only took the time to make Scott feel less invisible because he was there. If Scott did leave, Stephen wouldn't have to put the effort in anymore.

The silence was finally unbearable and Scott set his tray as calmly as possible on a nearby table and made his way toward the cafeteria doors...and found Quill standing in the doorway. Had he overheard what Rachel said? If so, why didn't he say anything? Why didn't he stop her?

_Because Rachel was right._

Scott swallows thickly as he pushes past Quill (and actually heard the senior yell "What the fuck did you say to him, bitch?!" But he was now convinced that was his imagination), and bolts for the stairs leading to the roof. He needed to be alone. Somewhere where absolutely no one would be, and the roof provided that. Too many people were in and out of the bathroom and the library would have some people in it during lunch, so he had to choose the roof. Even if that meant exposing himself to the elements.

The moment he stumbled out the doorway to the roof, he had just enough sense to prop the door with a nearby cinder block so he wouldn't get locked out, and went around the corner to sit against the side of the entrance. He pulled the hood of his sweater over his head to at least keep the rain from pelting his skin directly, and then pulled his knees close to his chest to rest his forehead on them.

_Get small. Make yourself invisible again._

Could he even do that anymore? Maybe if he distanced himself from Stephen and Quill it might work. Push them away and then blend into the background again. People would forget about him again. All of this happened because he allowed himself to open up just the tiniest bit, and Rachel just had to get one of her claws into the stitches of his insecurities and rip him open for everyone to see. No matter how much she poked and prodded at his biggest insecurities, he would never let them see him run or cry. Even now he refused to cry. What was the point? 

He didn't have a parent to talk to. The school wouldn't do anything about it, and he didn't want to bother Stephen or Quill anymore. They had their own groups of friends they could spend time with, and Quill could easily find someone else to help him with his math homework.

To think his life was somewhat normal and quiet just a week ago. Now he would give anything to be non-existent to everyone again. The attention wasn't worth it. It was negative and only made him believe that any love he saw in the world was a ruse. 

_Not only does high school suck, but so does the world._

"What are you doing out here? You're going to have a relapse." Scott slowly looks up from his knees and finds Stephen standing in front of him. "Come on, back inside."  
"I don't want someone to be my friend because they pity me." Scott bites out.  
"Well it's a good thing I don't." Stephen grabs one of Scott's arms and pulls him to his feet before dragging him back inside and out of the rain. "Scott."  
Stephen stops them just inside the building and Scott looks down. "This is why I liked being invisible." He whispers.  
"I know." The older boy mutters quietly.

Then the unthinkable happened. Stephen grabbed Scott again, gently this time, and pulled him into a hug. Scott actually stood there with his arms hanging at his sides as his brain tried to process what was going on, but then he finally managed to lift his arms to return the hug. He was hesitant at first, but the longer Stephen held him there, the tighter Scott made his arms until he was fisting the back of Stephen's soaked sweater. Scott still refused to cry (it was tempting though), but he still enjoyed every second of the hug. The first one he ever had and it was better than he imagined. The reason for it sucked but it definitely helped him feel a little better. It was proof that at least Stephen still cared about him.

"Would you notice if I disappeared?" Scott mutters into Stephen's shoulder.  
The older teen snorts. "Please, I would find you and drag you back kicking and screaming."

The hug lasted a good couple more minutes until Stephen finally pulled away and held up the younger's backpack.

"We have permission to take you home." Stephen says softly and Scott furrows his eyebrows.  
"We?"  
Stephen motions toward the stairs and Scott finds Quill on the landing below. "I'm not the only one who would notice if you disappeared."  
Scott looks down and away from the senior and stares at a stain on the linoleum floor. "That's probably not a good idea."  
"Hey." Quill says and Scott looks back over at him. "Don't worry about Rachel. Everyone knows she's just mad that I'm more worried about my grades than I am about catching her STD's. Do you have any idea where _that_ has been?" Quill half jokes.

Scott couldn't help himself after that. He snorted in amusement before it evolved into a small fit of laughter that ended in some wheezing when it caused another coughing episode. Stephen gently patted his back until Scott managed to catch his breath again, and then to his surprise, asked him to take off his rain soaked sweater. Scott did so with a frown.

"I don't have anything else."  
Stephen sighs. "It's better to not wear it while we get to the car than to wear it and make yourself worse."  
"Hold on." Quill says and climbs the stairs up to them as he takes off his own sweater before holding it out to Scott. "It's clean, I promise."  
"Thanks, but--"  
"It's fine. I run pretty warm and I can stop by my house after I drop you off at home."

Scott sighs and then finally takes the offered sweater, and after he pulls it over his head, he looks up at Quill and thanks him quietly. The moment he did though, he saw a weird flash in the older teen's eyes. A trick of the light maybe? There was supposed to be another thunderstorm today, but when he looked around the immediate area, there were no windows and the other two didn't look up at the lights. Maybe Scott was just tired and his eyes were playing tricks on him.

He was sick and had a really shitty day anyway.

"You're cute when you smile by the way." Quill says as he starts back down the stairs and Stephen looks at Scott with a knowing smirk when the youngest blushes.

_Was Quill flirting?_


	6. Chapter 6

Quill and Stephen took Scott home for the day and after Stephen _triple-checked_ that he was okay, he dragged Quill back out the door so they could go back to school. Scott realized a few seconds too late that he was still wearing Quill's sweater, and even though the older teen said he could swing by his house on their way back to school to get a new one, Scott could have very easily returned it. He wasn't leaving his house today, but he eventually decided he could return it tomorrow.

As much as he didn't want to go back to school _ever_ , he knew Rachel would think she scared him away. She only did for that short amount of time from when she confronted him to the time Stephen found him on the roof. Then Stephen gave Scott exactly what he needed without him even realizing it. A simple hug that held so much meaning to him and was the first time Stephen showed him any kind of affection.

Then Scott realized…

Quill was the first to give him an affectionate gesture in his entire _life_. 

He massaged the back of Scott's neck while he was laying on the very couch he was currently sitting on, and even managed to get him to doze off for a little while. Both times his friends (Quill really was his friend now wasn't he?) touched him with even the smallest amount of love behind it, Scott took to it like a fish to water. A fish flopping around and dying right next to the ocean that was less than a foot away at least. The ocean was a symbol of love, and he was the dying fish that no one bothered to teach how to swim. 

Stephen becoming his friend was a cup of water he needed. Then Quill crashed into his life and they seemed to help him closer to that ocean, Rachel took him three more feet away, and Quill and Stephen took it upon themselves to just pick him up and throw him into the ocean and hope for the best.

Scott snorted at the image, and when he did, he smelled cinnamon. He furrows his brows and looks down at Quill's sweater that he was _still wearing_ , and hesitantly grabs the front of it to bring closer to his nose and smell. He confirmed his suspicions after a quick sniff and blushed hotly. How did his clothes smell like cinnamon?! Was there a special laundry detergent or cologne he used that had this smell? Or maybe Quill ate a lot of cinnamon flavored candies? 

A knock on his door has Scott dropping the sweater as his head snaps up and he looks toward the front door in surprise. What time was it? He just got home so he wasn't expecting anyone, and he definitely didn't get any kind of notice from his parents. When he looked at the clock nearby, it had his eyebrows shooting up. It was past five o'clock. Had he been daydreaming all this time or did he maybe doze off at one point without realizing it?

Scott shakes his head when another knock interrupts his thoughts and gets up to walk over to the front door. After unlocking it, he opens the door and blinks when a paper bag is immediately pushed into his arms. Scott squeaks as he fumbles to get a hold of the bag and looks up to find Quill grinning down at him. The younger blushes furiously as he steps aside to let Quill inside, and looks into the paper bag curiously as the older teen walks in and closes the door behind him.

"Tacos, tons of juice, _and_ more cough drops." Quill explains. "Please help me with my math homework."  
"You don't need to bribe me. I'm still going to help you." Scott mumbles.  
"The food isn't bribery. You had a shitty day so it's comfort food." Quill turns to him, looks him over, and causes Scott to blush even more. "Wow...you're kind of swimming in my sweater."

_How is steam not coming out of my ears right now?! He's been here for thirty seconds and I feel like I'm going to internally combust!_

"Hnn." Scott wheezes out and immediately mentally facepalms.  
"Sorry for showing up without warning. I figured you could use the company. Dining table or coffee table?"  
"C-Coffee table I guess." Scott stammers.

Scott had repress the thoughts of _holy shit, Quill is in my house and we're alone_ as they set up with their dinner and homework in the living room. The tv was turned on for background noise and they did what they usually did at school. Quill did his math while Scott worked on his own homework, and when he finished, Scott looked over his work and helped Quill with the ones he got wrong. When Scott wasn't doing his homework, he was inhaling his tacos even though they were murder on his throat. He would gladly make himself mute with tacos, especially ones Quill brought him, when he could _taste_ them.

He did have to unfortunately stop eating for a bit to cough into the (thankfully black) sleeve of Quill's sweater, and the older teen said nothing about it. Scott apologized as soon as he caught his breath and promised to wash it, but Quill just pushed another bag of cough drops across the table to him and went back to his work. It wasn't even math anymore. They finished that half an hour into their session and now he was just working on the rest of his homework. History from a quick glance.

Scott ignored the drops in favor of finishing his dinner, but he did accept the Capri Sun that Quill seemed to conjure out of nowhere. The older teen was wearing a sweater with a big pocket in the front so it was likely he was pulling them from there. Scott just didn't know how many Quill stocked up on.

"You really do like tacos and juice." The older teen says with a smirk.  
"What?"  
"I asked Stephen what your favorite food is so I can bring you something to hopefully cheer you up." Quill explains. "He didn't even hesitate before telling me."  
Scott blinks. "You gave me juice this morning though."  
"Oh...uh…" Quill rubs the back of his neck and looks away for a brief moment. "I kind of noticed before that you drink juice at lunch...and wherever you can get away with it."

How long had Quill been watching him to notice a small detail like that? Scott looks down and polishes off his last taco as Quill drops his hand to grab his portion of dinner out of the bag and the senior raises an eyebrow when he pulls out four. Did Scott eat too many? Quill was big and physically active so maybe he needed that fifth taco?

"I seriously underestimated how much you like tacos." He says and Scott frowns.  
"'M sorry." He mumbles.  
"For what?"  
"I...didn't think to ask how many were for me."  
Quill guffaws. "I thought you would only eat two but I got you a third just in case. I honestly wouldn't have cared if you ate them all."  
"I really like tacos but even I can't eat that many." Scott says after making a face.  
"You could probably eat a fourth if you didn't drink so much juice." The older teases and Scott pouts. "Oh, you're even cute when you pout."

There was no denying now that Quill was _definitely_ flirting, and Scott wasn't sure how to react. He wasn't sure if Quill was flirting just to flirt or if he was flirting because he was _interested_. Against his better judgement and based on the fact that Quill took the time to get Scott's favorite food...Scott wanted to hope. Hope that someone else saw past his walls and liked what they saw. He had no idea what Quill saw, but something piqued his interest. How did Scott respond though?

_Don't._

Well, that's helpful.

Scott opens his mouth to attempt to say _something_ , but Quill looks over at the clock. "I better get home." He says as he gathers his things and shoves them into his bag. "What do you think about just doing our homework here? On a good day, you can come home and I can come after practice, and on a bad day, I can drive you home and we can pick up something to eat on the way."  
"I...can't really afford to buy food every day and that's not fair to you."  
"We can figure out food." Quill shrugs.  
"...sure." Scott agrees albeit a little shyly and with another growing blush.  
"Cool. You okay to go back tomorrow? We won't blame you if you stay home."

Scott nods and watches Quill stand with his bag and gets up to follow him to the door. As soon as the senior steps out the door after saying goodbye for the night, Scott closes and locks the door and pulls off Quill's sweater on his way to the washing machine. He throws it, as well as his damp sweater and other laundry in, and does a quick load of laundry so he can make sure to return Quill's sweater to him tomorrow and free of his cold germs.

==============

The next morning, Scott was at his locker when he got a feeling of dread and he looked down the hall to find Rachel and her friends glaring at him. Scott swallows and prays that the cheerleader is content to stick with glaring, but then she looks over her shoulder at her girlfriends before starting to walk over. Seriously? Yesterday wasn't enough? She humiliated him every way she could the day before, but who knew what other dirt she dug up or even made up?

Then a shadow was cast over him and the feeling of dread lessened considerably. The cheerleaders stopped in their approach and looked like they ate or smelt something bad. The reason for their halt came to Scott by smell first.

Cinnamon.

Scott turns to look at Quill and refrains from moving closer to the sense of safety that was coming off the football player in waves. That would have just been more fuel for Rachel's fire. So he instead pulled his backpack closer to his front, unzipped it, and pulled Quill's sweater out of it. He offers it up to the senior and the taller teen grins.

"Trade you." Quill pulls another juice pouch out of the sweater he's wearing and gives it to Scott as he takes his sweater.  
"I washed it." Scott assures the elder.  
"Thanks." Quill looks over at the nearby girls and scowls. "Is she bothering you again?"  
"Not yet." Scott whispers.  
"Do you need me to walk you to class?"  
_Yes._ "No. That's okay, thanks." Scott turns back to his locker, grabs everything he needs, and closes it.  
"Tell me if she bothers you okay?"

Scott nods and Quill walks away after sending a glare to Rachel, and she huffs in annoyance before thankfully walking the other direction. Scott heaves a sigh of relief and walks to his first class as he punches his straw into his juice pouch and takes a sip. His first class allowed food and drinks to an extent, so he decided he was going to enjoy it then. He was thirsty anyway.

 _Thirsty for Quill_ , his mind teases and he very quickly kicks those thoughts down into his mind basement again. He really needed to lock the door.

He spent the first half of his day staring out the window since most of his classes allowed free study time to get caught up on any projects or reports that were due before Christmas break, and it would probably be like that for the rest of the week. The break officially started Friday after school, and Scott had already gotten everything big done. His book report for English and his science project were sitting in his locker for when he could turn them in, so all he had to do was do any assigned homework from now until Friday. 

The rain wasn't very entertaining though, and just made everything incredibly depressing. While it wasn't storming anymore, the rain was still steady enough that Quill would be the one taking him home. Despite the senior's flirting that was going to one day make Scott explode, he'd rather deal with that than get soaked to the bone walking home.

Lunch came and went uneventfully cheerleader wise, but that was probably because Quill sat with him and Stephen. The junior didn't even blink an eye at their new lunchmate, and Scott somehow only managed to stare like an idiot for a good ten seconds. Then he realized what he was doing and collected himself with the thought that it was just like at home. That's how they talked to each other.

Scott's second half of the day was just as boring with the only upside being the hour after school that he spent with Stephen.

"How was your alone time with your boyfriend yesterday?" Stephen asks and Scott turns bright red.  
" _He's not my boyfriend._ " Scott whispers frantically and Stephen smiles.  
"You want him to be."  
"Shut up."  
"He told me about your new plans. Make sure you don't get too excited. Do we need to have a talk about the birds and the bees?"  
Scott drops his head and it lands with a thud on the table. "No. Anything but that."  
Stephen's smirk quickly turns into a curious frown. "Do you know that-"  
"Babies come from storks? Duh." When all Scott gets in response in silence, he lifts his head to look at the older teen and almost laughs at the horrified look on his face. "I'm kidding. My parents obviously didn't talk to me about it, but I did read about it."  
"Oh, thank god." 

Stephen heads home after their hour is up, and when it gets close for Quill's football practice to be over, Scott leaves the library and makes his way to his locker to get his things ready. As he's putting some things away, he feels Quill come up behind him and blinks when the older teen places one of his hands on the locker beside Scott's, effectively boxing him in. This was different. Quill always gave him an opening so he didn't crowd Scott, so what changed?

"So I was wondering…" Quill starts and Scott tilts his head to show that he was listening. "Can I take you out for coffee or whatever?"  
"You mean for lunch?" The younger asks with confusion.  
"...like a date."

Scott squeaks and drops his books as his ears start ringing and his breath catches in his throat. Was this a dream? Did he fall asleep in the library after Stephen left? Scott subtly pinches himself, and his eyes widen at the pain that follows.

No, he wasn't dreaming.


	7. Chapter 7

_Breathe._

That was the first speck of good advice his mind had given him in the past two weeks, and for once, Scott obeyed. He worked on his breathing once he realized he had stopped, and _then_ focused on the situation at hand. Namely that Quill had just asked him out on a date and was still waiting for his answer, but Scott was very close to listening to his flight instinct and running away. Even in the rain. A big part of him would rather risk getting sick all over again than to deal with this.

The small part of him that didn't want to flee was screaming at him to say yes to Quill, and Scott actually tried. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish while he continued to stare into his open locker and flushed red when he felt Quill move just a little bit closer to him. The senior still wasn't touching him but he was so close to Scott that the younger could feel how warm Quill was this close to his back. Even though Quill was boxing him in on one side with one of his arms, all Scott had to do was close his locker, bolt to the right, and run like hell. He may not play any sports but he was smaller and probably still faster than Quill. Supposedly the older teen was the type to rely on brute strength, but Scott hadn't seen him during practice or any of the games, so running was kind of a risk.

Somehow the smaller part of him won out over his flight instinct.

"Cider." Scott finally squeaks out after a couple of minutes of silence.  
"What?"  
Scott could feel his blush traveling up to the tips of his ears. "Apple cider. Hot cider."  
"With donuts?" Quill closes Scott's locker for him when the younger teen nods. "How about now?"  
" _Now?!_ " Scott almost screeches.  
"Sure. I'm already driving you home so we might as well stop by that coffee shop down the street, and if we don't go now, I have a feeling you'll run off on me." Quill says.

Well...he wasn't totally wrong, and he had a plausible reason to worry about Scott bolting on him. The first time they met, Quill just talked to him and touched him a little bit before he was off like a flash. Then again, being asked on a date was a whole new ball game and Scott was worrying about something else entirely. Was he supposed to act a certain way? All he knew about dates were what he heard from other students and movies and those were really both terrible sources.

"...now?" Scott repeats in a near whisper and Quill seems to catch on to his discomfort.  
"Only if you're up to it. If it helps, you can think of it as just hanging out."  
"You don't know me very well." Scott argues and shivers when Quill chuckles.  
"No, but that's kind of the point. Friends hang out, but people who are interested in being more than friends, date. I've seen enough to be interested." The older teen admits.

Quill was interested. Quill was interested in _him_ , and it had Scott's head spinning. He was legitimately concerned that he might fall over from all of the surprise, but that little part of him that punched his flight instinct just whispered to him that Quill would at least catch him if he did, and that had him blushing even more. He had to be beet red by now. 

"...okay." Scott relents with a mumble and then coughs into his sleeve.

Quill moves away from Scott, which actually sends a chill through the younger once he realizes how warm the senior had been, and then looks up at Quill when he holds out a couple of cough drops. Scott takes them with a thanks and unwraps one as he follows Quill to his car, and sucks on the lozenge lazily as he zones out once he gets into the car. That little part of him that was making this date even happen was becoming a bigger part of him and he was getting strangely calm about the date. The part of him that would panic about the repercussions was lost somewhere in the back of his mind, and instead he was convinced that if anything were to happen afterwards, Quill would take care of it. Of him. If Stephen didn't beat him to it first of course.

They both were beginning to radiate _safety_ to Scott, and they both had different ways of doing it. Stephen's safety was more brotherly, but Quill was more than that. He was a physical wall that _dared_ anyone or anything to hurt Scott. The affection Quill gave him while he had been sick just made Scott want to curl up next to him and be held while Stephen's hug was comforting, not romantic.

Scott had told Stephen he would make a great parent if he had any kids, and the other teen just scoffed and told him that he was in no way interested in having kids. He didn't like them.

"...ott...hey. _Hey!_ " Quill nudges Scott's shoulder and the younger looks over at him when the motion startles him out of his thoughts. "You alright?"  
"Y-Yeah...sorry. Guess I zoned out."  
"We're here. Might want to get inside before the sky decides to take its royal piss." 

Quill laughs when Scott scrunches his nose in disgust, and they both scramble out of the car when a few fat drops of rain hit the windshield. They barely made it into the coffee shop when the rain came in a downpour, and Quill pointed to a table as he walked over to the counter to order. The store was warm enough that Scott could pull off his sweater and still be comfortable, so he did that and hung his sweater over the back of his chair before sitting down and grabbing the bowl of creamer cups.

Scott half amused himself by stacking the little cups while waiting for Quill to come back with their order, and when stacking lost its appeal, he turned it into a bowling game. He stacked them across the table, kept one for himself, and stuck his tongue out just the tiniest bit as he aimed and then flicked the creamer cup toward the others. It, of course, sailed right over the top of the small pyramid on the other side of the table and landed on the chair and Scott huffed as he leaned over the table to retrieve the stray creamer. By the time he sat back down, Quill was coming over with their drinks and a plate with half a dozen donuts, so he returned the creamers to their bowl just as Quill put everything down and sat across from him.

"I could give you pointers." Quill jests and Scott snorts.  
"I'll pass, thanks." He grabs his mug of cider and shivers as the heat of the mug warms up his cold fingers. "Sports are your thing."  
" _My_ thing, huh?" Quill asks as he grabs one of the donuts and bites into it and Scott leaned forward curiously to see what Quill had ordered for himself. "Hot chocolate. It's a little late for coffee."  
"What about your homework?" Scott asks as he sits back. He takes a sip of his cider and jolts back from the scalding liquid with a wince.  
"If you don't mind me staying a little later we can still get it done." Quill answers. "This hour is just for us though."

And it was an hour of perfection. It was quiet, Christmas music played through the cafe, and they polished off the donuts and their drinks as they shared stories. Quill talked most of the time as Scott didn't have any stories to tell, but he was still surprisingly attentive to Scott's mood. If he got too quiet, he'd ask him questions, even if it was as simple as asking what Scott's favorite movie was. When he ran out of questions (for the time being), Quill grabbed the bowl of creamers and picked up where Scott had left off. It didn't take long for the younger to cave and his second attempt sent the cup flying over the pyramid again and hitting Quill right smack in the middle of his forehead. 

Instead of apologizing like he normally would have done, Scott laughed instead. Quill just grinned as he dramatically rubbed his forehead from the painful assault, and when he looked at Scott, the younger saw that weird flash in the senior's eyes again. His laughs slowly died down as he tried to figure out what he witnessed, but even though there were windows all around the coffee shop, there had been no lightning. The lights of the shop hadn't flickered, and Scott definitely wasn't tired after the sugar they consumed and it left him wondering.

_What the fuck?_

"Something on my face?" Quill asks and Scott shakes his head.  
"No. It's nothing." It was something, but Quill might just think he was crazy. Scott was already starting to feel a little loony.  
"Want to head to your house now? We've been here a little longer than an hour."  
"What? Really?" Scott looks at the clock on the wall by the counter. They'd been here for an hour and a _half_. "Oh yeah. We still have to work on your math."

The teens grab their sweaters and leave the shop, and just as they step into the parking lot, he hears Quill yell his name. Wasn't he right next to him? Why did that sound like it was coming from behind him? Why was he-

The air in Scott's lungs leave in one giant woosh as arms wrap around his middle and pull him out of the way of an oncoming car just in the nick of time, and he instinctively grabs onto the arm of his savior. He was almost hit by a car in the parking lot. The car wasn't going that fast but it was dark out and Scott was stupidly wearing dark clothes so the driver probably didn't even see him. Now his heart was thundering in his chest, and so was Quill's, who was the one pressed up against his back and holding him tightly after saving Scott from possible major injury.

"Thank you." Scott manages to whisper and doesn't even startle when Quill drops his forehead to the shorter teen's shoulder.  
"No problem." Quill wheezes. "Just promise to feed me if I can't feed myself past thirty since that shaved ten years off of my life."  
"That sounds fair." Scott replies with a weak laugh.

It took a couple more minutes for their hearts to slow to their normal rates, and then they parted (reluctantly on Scott's end) to finish their trek back to the car. They climbed in and Quill drove them to Scott's house, and they grab their backpacks from the back seat before rushing to the front door through the still pouring rain. Scott fumbles with his keys with cold fingers and swears under his breath when his shivering keeps him from putting the key into the lock, and Quill finally relieves him of the task when he notices Scott's teeth chattering. The three minutes they stood in the rain after Quill pulled him out of the way of a moving vehicle was enough to soak them, and thirty seconds at the door just made him cold. Quill certainly did run warmer so he was able to shove the key into the lock and unlock the door, and they trip over each other in their rush to get inside.

"Hey, hey! You're gonna--oh fuck!" Quill shouts as he falls forward and Scott yelps as he falls back.

Somehow in the middle of their fall, Quill still managed to grab the back of Scott's head before it connected with the hard floor, and also managed to keep himself from falling on top of the younger by throwing his other arm out and stopping their descent. Football practice was good for other things besides the sport itself it seemed. Quill looks down at Scott with some concern and the younger blushes at the new situation. 

If he were paid a dime for every time he blushed today, he could probably pay for college.

"The weather is out to get you." Quill says lamely and Scott bursts into laughter. He didn't miss the strange flash in the elder's eyes again, but he was too busy laughing at the terrible joke to worry about it. Quill had a point though. It made him sick, almost got him run over by a car, and now he almost cracked his head open inside his own home. Not to mention the incident yesterday. The rain didn't seem to want to let up.

"I'll go find you a towel." Scott says after his laughter dies down and Quill gently releases his head to sit up. "Want me to put your clothes in the dryer? I don't have any clothes that will fit you but I can get you a blanket at least."  
"Yeah. Sure. Thanks."

_It would be better if he didn't use the blanket._

Scott mentally glares at his thoughts and strangles them as he finds a towel and a large blanket after he gets up, and Quill closes the front door. When the younger returns with the promised items, Quill strips down to his boxers and throws his clothes in the dryer as Scott changes into dry clothes up in his room, and Scott throws his own wet clothes into the dryer before turning it on. He finds the older teen looking at the fireplace in the living room curiously, and Quill turns to look at him.

"Have you ever used that?"  
"A little. Just small fires though since I'm not usually down here long enough. Until now that is." Scott shrugs. "There's a few logs if you want to build a fire. My hands are cold anyway."

Quill took him up on his offer and built a fire in the fireplace and the living room was soon warming up from it. Scott sighed contentedly as his body starts to thaw out, and the older teen joins him at the coffee table with his homework and gets to work on it. Quill didn't need as much help as he used to, but newer stuff that came up still confused him at times, and he was quick to catch on once Scott explained things an easier way. That's how it always was. Teachers usually taught by the book, and very few took the time to teach students an easier way whenever they got a deer in the headlights look from them. The few that didn't take the time didn't care and were setting their students up to fail. 

It was annoying.

"Your hands are still cold?" Quill suddenly asks after their hands brush when Scott pushes his notebook back to the senior.  
"They're warming up."  
"It's been half an hour. Here." Quill reaches out and holds one of Scott's hands in between both of his. "They were colder than this?!" When Scott nods, Quill runs his hand up part of the younger's forearm and frowns. "No wonder you're still recovering from your cold."

Scott watches Quill curiously when he releases his arm and stands up with his blanket, and the older teen sits on the couch and holds one side of the blanket open.

"Come here."  
"What?"  
"I'm going to help you get properly warmed up for once in your life." Quill answers with a huff.  
"...how?" Scott asks timidly.  
"Nothing extreme, I promise. If you don't like it, you can go away whenever you want. I won't stop you."

So far Quill hadn't given Scott a reason not to trust him, so he did join him on the couch after some hesitation. He actually had to agree with the lewd part of his mind that he couldn't pass up the opportunity to snuggle up to a half naked Quill by the fireplace, and let the older teen wrap his arm and the blanket around Scott once he sat down. The tv was turned on to help dispel any awkwardness, and as the minutes dragged by, Scott felt himself being drawn to the heat Quill's body provided. Like a moth to a flame.

He really did start warming up too. Not just the outside, but down to his bones to and Scott felt wonderful. He felt calm and even had to stop himself from dozing off, but he eventually lost that battle five minutes in. He was surrounded by warmth, the smell of cinnamon, and even the low purr of what sounded like a large cat. He stayed in that comfortable bubble of contentment, safety, and consciousness for a while, and when he finally opened his eyes again, he found himself staring at Quill's collarbone. Quill must have lowered them comfortably into a lying position once Scott dozed off and then fell asleep himself, because the tv had turned off automatically and the fire had died down to glowing embers. Just as Scott was about to drop back off into his comfortable bubble (after discovering the purr he heard in his sleep was in fact Quill snoring; that was hot), realization hits him. The tv was set to turn off at midnight.

Scott looks up at the digital clock on the stand by the couch and gently shakes Quill when it reads half past one. "Quill!"  
"What?" The older teen groans out sleepily.  
"It's past one in the morning! We fell asleep! You should've been home hours ago!"  
"'T's fine. I'll just call my grandpa in the morning and tell him I fell asleep. It's happened a couple times at my friends' houses before." Quill mumbles.  
"...are you sure?"  
"Yeah. Go back to sleep Sugar." Quill slurs and falls back to sleep seconds later, leaving Scott to stare at him in shock.

Did Quill just give him a pet name? Was he even aware of it? It made Scott's entire body flush with heated embarrassment and shyness, but he found himself hoping that Quill meant it. Even after only a week and a half of knowing each other. He didn't mind the name, and he also wouldn't be totally surprised of Quill had no recollection of it in the morning, but he wasn't going to crawl out from under the blanket and away from Quill's warmth. He was far too comfortable and being held against the older teen was lighting his touch deprived nerves ablaze. Scott couldn't get enough.

Even if this didn't work out, he was going to enjoy the affection Quill gave him for as long as it lasted. It would be worth anything life threw at him at this point, because for once in his lonely existence…

...he felt wanted.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its been a while since I've been in high school so I realize that football season doesn't last into the winter. I got mixed up with professional football.

Going _to_ school with Quill was very different. There were very few students around for the times that the older teen took him home, but taking him to school? There were a lot more people to see Scott get out of Quill's car, and boy did they see. Students stared as Scott made his way to the front door of the school, and twice he thought about fleeing back to the car to hide. His third time thinking about it actually had him freezing in place in the middle of the parking lot, and he only started moving again when one of Quill's hands gently cupped the back of his neck. Having the senior that close helped him ignore the many intense stares he was receiving, and it also prevented him from running and hiding from all the attention. Scott felt a little better when they got inside and parted ways to go to their personal lockers, but it was relief short lived.

The same dread that filled him yesterday was back, and he didn't even have to look to know that Rachel was on her way over. He tried to get all of his things that he would need for the first few classes before the cheerleader made it to him, but Rachel was faster. She was also angry enough to slam his locker closed while one of his hands was still in it, and when he tried to pull it back out of the way, the door slammed on his fingers. Scott swallows back a pained whimper when his fingers throb in pain, and he holds them close to his body just as Rachel shoves him.

"Why are you coming to school with Peter?! I thought I made it clear that nobody wants you! Stay where you belong! In the background like all of the other losers! Or do the losers not want you around either?" She shoves his shoulder again. "Stay away from--"

Rachel gasps when an arm shoots out in between her and Scott, and it slams loudly against the lockers, echoing throughout the hallway and making everyone in it grow silent. Scott winces when his hand throbs painfully again and jumps when someone grabs it as gently as possible, and finds Stephen when he looks away from Quill. Scott immediately calms as the older boy carefully prods at his bruising and swelling fingers while muttering under his breath to himself, and then Scott looks back up toward Quill when he can feel the rage coming off the senior.

"Are you still bothering him?" Quill seethes.  
"I was--" Rachel starts.  
"Being a bitch to someone who did absolutely nothing to you? You're just pissed because I would rather date him than you!"  
"Date? Him?!" 

Scott was in between deciding to blush from Quill's admission and curling in on himself when the cheerleader referred to him in disgust. Both were discarded though when Stephen poked at a particularly sore spot and he hissed from the pain instead.

"He has a name. You should know it since you stuck your nose into his business." Quill growls out.  
"If you're dating him...then prove it."

_Nonono...please no._

"I don't have to prove anything to an attention seeking whore like you. Unlike you, I respect his boundaries, and proving _anything_ would be ignoring them. I never want to see you bothering him again." Quill drops his arm. "Now, excuse me while I give my attention to someone who _deserves_ and _needs_ it."

Stephen leads Scott away as Quill follows them to the nurse's office, and Scott grimaces when the school nurse pokes and prods at his fingers some more. She definitely wasn't as gentle about it as Stephen was, but she did come to the same conclusion that the junior did when he was muttering to himself. There weren't any broken bones or sprains so Scott just needed to ice them. She gave him an ice pack to take to class with him and told him to come back whenever he needed a new one, and sent the boys on their way.

Scott was just glad it wasn't the hand he wrote with.

"I'll walk him to class since it's on the way to mine." Stephen says and Quill nods.  
"I'll see you two at lunch then."  
"I can walk." Scott mutters.  
"Humor us." The senior says as he places his hand on the side of Scott's neck and brushes his thumb against his jaw. "I'm sorry she did that to you."

Scott blushes once Quill walks away to his class, and then attempts to ignore the smirk that was undoubtedly on Stephen's face. Thankfully he didn't say anything as they walked to their classes, but Scott knew he would be hearing from him sometime today.

It wasn't at lunch since Quill was starting to sit with them now, but it was during their after school hour. Scott was in the middle of pulling things out of his bag one at a time since his other hand was still hurting (all ice packs had been returned to the nurses office) when Stephen looked up at him with a knowing smile. Scott visibly ignored him, and Stephen had the courtesy to wait until all of his needed textbooks and supplies were on the table because the younger was obviously getting frustrated with his pace and the current uselessness of his bruised hand.

"How was the date last night?" Stephen asks.  
Scott narrows his eyes at his friend. "Why do I get the feeling that you knew about it before I did?"  
"I've known for a few days." Stephen admits. "Since you got sick, actually."  
"You mean when you guys were talking about why my parents aren't home and all that."  
Stephen raises an eyebrow. "I knew you still had to be awake."  
"Is he…?" Scott starts before hesitating.  
"Is he what?"  
"Was it a pity date?" The younger whispers as he stares at his biology book.  
"No. He wouldn't have announced to the whole school that the two of you are dating if it was." 

That bounced around in Scott's head as they did their pre-vacation homework, but it didn't really click until about thirty minutes later. He and Quill were _dating_? It wasn't just a one time thing? It was still happening?

Scott drops his pencil and Stephen looks up at the source of the dull thud. "What's wrong?" He asks curiously when he notices the stunned expression on Scott's face.  
" _D-Dating?_ " Scott squeaks out. "Like...still?"  
"...even you can't be that socially inept." Stephen answers and holds back a laugh when Scott gives him a bewildered look. "You really don't know."  
"Know what?" Quill asks as he joins them at their table and makes Scott jump in surprise.  
Stephen smirks. "He's just now realizing that you two are dating."  
"Uhh...I thought that was pretty clear when we went on that date last night." Quill confirms with some confusion.  
Scott sputters. "I thought that was just one date! Now Stephen is telling me that we're dating and you're agreeing and...and...someone please explain and make things clear so there aren't anymore surprises!"  
Stephen holds up a finger with a wicked grin when Quill opens his mouth and the senior shuts it again. "Quill asked you out on a date. You went on that date last night. What you apparently don't realize is that in high school, when someone asks you on a date, you accept, and it goes well, hanging out turns into dating. Which means Quill is no longer your friend." Scott frowns in confusion and Stephen leans back in his chair, his grin never faltering. "He's your boyfriend."

Scott swore someone punched him in the chest and stole his breath because his chest suddenly got heavy and he couldn't breathe. He could barely stare off into the distance while he tried to come to terms with what Stephen just told him. It was clearly true when Quill wasn't denying any part of it, and it also made the two encounters with Rachel make a lot of sense. Scott unknowingly stole her potential boyfriend away and she was jealous.

Not to mention Scott was the last to find out about the boyfriend thing. That was kind of sad.

"You're even cute when you're having an internal freak out." Quill says and Scott squeaks.  
"Down boy." Stephen drawls. "Shouldn't you be at practice?"  
"Nah. Season's over. I was just cleaning out my locker." Quill waves his hand.  
"In that case, why don't we just head to Scott's?" Stephen suggests and the oldest of the group nods. "You might need to carry Scott though."  
"No no no! I can walk!" Scott says as he grabs his book and whimpers when he forgets about his injured hand, dropping the textbook when his fingers throb. "Ow."

Scott holds his hand close to his chest again, and thanks Quill with a whisper when the older teen gathers up his things and puts them into Scott's backpack. Stephen packs up his own things and tells them he'll meet them at the car, and they part ways when they leave the library. Quill and Scott walk to the younger's locker so he can put away what he managed to finish in the thirty minutes they were in the library, and then Quill zips up his backpack when Scott closes his locker.

Scott was still coming to terms with the knowledge that Quill was actually more than just his friend now, but he probably should have realized it the night before when Quill offered to share body warmth. He was a nice guy, but Scott was almost positive that he didn't cuddle with just anyone. That had been the best night's sleep Scott ever had in his life too. How they both fit on the couch was beyond him, but it felt nice to wake up with his nose buried in Quill's collarbone, their legs tangled together, and the older teen's arm wrapped around his shoulders--

Yeah...he probably should have put that together.

"Hey." Quill says softly to get the younger's attention and Scott looks up at him while they leave the building. "You just need to say the word and I'll back off."  
"No! I mean...no. It's okay. _I'm_ okay. I just didn't realize how out of the loop I was." Scott admits to himself and Quill.  
"Okay. The same thing applies if I'm doing anything that makes you uncomfortable too."

He knew. Quill made that obvious when he refused to prove to Rachel that they were dating. He said it would be disrespectful to Scott's boundaries and…

Wait.

Did Rachel ask Quill to kiss Scott in front of her and the entire school? Two thoughts raced through his mind at the realization. First, he was glad that Quill didn't give Rachel what she wanted...and second? Scott wondered if Quill didn't want to kiss him in the first place. Was he unkissable? But then why would Quill bother dating him? Even he knew that there was more physical touching in a relationship. Cuddling, holding hands, kissing, sometimes even sex…

Scott wheezes at the last example. Admittedly, he had read into it when he had to educate himself about how babies were made and all of that, and he wondered about it afterwards to educate himself on that as well. At the time he just shrugged it off and moved on to a different subject, but now that he suddenly had a boyfriend who was pretty touchy, the memory came back. Scott studies Quill's back when the older boy walks in front of him, and he almost starts wheezing again. Quill was a big guy. Scott could only imagine…

_No. No. Don't imagine that. Don't think about how big it is and how you might possibly die._

That wasn't really an 'if' scenario. If their relationship ever got that far, Scott was most definitely going to die. Why was he even thinking about this? For all he knew, Quill wouldn't want to even go that far and Scott was being lewd for no reason.

So he directed his attention to something he had been wondering for a while now.

"Quill?" Scott asks as he reaches out to grab the back of the senior's sweater to stop him.  
"What's up?" Quill turns to look down at him and Scott internally scowls at their height difference while simultaneously drooling over it.  
"I...um...how come you smell like cinnamon?"  
"Do I?" He lifts the front of his sweater to smell it. "I don't smell it."  
"Probably because you're used to it?"  
"Well, I like eating cinnamon candy. Maybe that's it?" Scott nods in agreement. "If that's the case, you probably brush your teeth and have a glass of orange juice for breakfast."  
"Huh?" Scott wonders stupidly.  
"You always smell like mint and oranges." Quill elaborates.  
"Not juice?"  
The older boy actually laughs. "Surprisingly, no. You might taste like it though." Quill waggles his eyebrows at Scott and the younger blushes just as they make it the car.

Stephen wasn't at the car, so they threw their bags on one side of the backseat and Scott reaches out to open the passenger door until Quill stops him. The sophomore gasps in surprise when Quill turns him around and pins him to the door, and swallows when he gently lifts his injured hand. Scott shudders when the older teen gently presses a kiss to bruised fingers, and then to his palm as he looks directly into Scott's eyes, and another weird light flashes through green eyes.

_Okay. I saw it again. I can't be going crazy._

"Quill." Scott breathes out and swallows down a whimper when his hum of acknowledgment sounds...strange. A good strange. "Y-Your…"  
"My…?" Quill asks as he moves from Scott's hand to his neck and the younger heaves out a nervous breath.

He was enjoying it too much to stop it.

"Do I need to come back?"

Scott's eyes widen at Stephen's interruption and Quill moves away from him with a grumble.

"Nope. Moment's over. You ruined it. Thanks."  
"No problem." Stephen answers with a smirk before climbing into the back seat.

_Just my luck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also want to thank everyone who leaves a comment! It is so motivating, you guys have no idea. This story continues because of you guys!


	9. Chapter 9

So far Christmas break was...lonely. Of course, Scott knew that Stephen and Quill couldn't stay with him the entire time, they had their own families to spend time with. They had traditions to enjoy. Maybe even vacations to go on...and in a few days, a Christmas dinner to enjoy.

Scott's stomach grumbles at the thought of food and he sighs as he pulls his knees closer to his chest and ignores his grumbling stomach. The break wasn't just lonely, it was cold and it sucked. Another freak storm came in and had his windows rattling from the force of the wind, and it blew out the power so there was no electricity. No heater. So Scott had to build a fire in the fireplace with what little logs he had left and sit in front of it with the heaviest blanket he could find. Because the power was out, the food in the fridge went bad, and on top of all that?

His parents didn't send him any money for food.

He was on his second day of no food and was already having a hard time pulling himself away from the only source of heat he had. Scott could feel his cold coming back with a vengeance because he had been stuck taking cold showers as well. They were the fastest showers he'd ever taken since they were ice cold, but it still sunk beneath his skin. He would jump out and get dressed before rushing back down to the living room to burrow under the blanket in front of the fireplace, and curl up as tightly as possible so he could get warmed up again.

He was starting to wonder if it was worth the cold showers, but the thought of not taking one had him scrunching his nose. Scott just hoped that the power would be back on before his firewood ran out. The way the storm was raging though, he wouldn't count on it. He only had enough wood for the rest of the night, maybe the morning if he stretched out when he threw on the next piece.

He had no choice but to do that, and when the fire started to die down the next morning, Scott got more blankets from the hall closet and piled them on and around them. He didn't move after that. The wind seemed to seep in through whatever cracks it could find in the house _and_ Scott's blanket pile, and when it did, he shivered. Sometimes violently.

Scott managed to doze off just before the last of the dying embers went out, and about a couple of hours later, he woke up groggily to the sound of knocking. He sneezes a couple of times and buries himself under his blankets as much as possible, and attempts to ignore the (frantic?) knocking on his door. Whoever it was would eventually give up and go away. Scott was in no shape to entertain any guests or any psycho that was out in this storm, and someone would have to drag him from his pile anyway.

Scott picks up the sound of a key turning in the lock and furrows his brows curiously. Who else besides his parents had keys to the house? It couldn't have been them since they wouldn't bother knocking, especially since they pretended he didn't exist for the most part, so who?

"Fuck. It's like an icebox in here." Scott hears Quill say when the front door opens.  
"Scott?" Stephen calls, but the younger doesn't answer for lack of energy to do so.

Scott actually whines when one of the older boys approach him and start pulling off blankets, but then presses closer when a warm hand caresses his cheek. 

"Go open the door to the car. We're taking him to my place. He's freezing."

Anything after Quill's command was a haze. Scott vaguely recalled being scooped up with one of his blankets and shivering when he felt a sudden blast of icy wind, but after that was all a blur. There was some worried conversation, more icy wind, and then suddenly...warmth. Warmth surrounded him. Blankets, a mattress, heated air...Scott finally got warm enough to comfortably fall asleep. He was still hungry, but he didn't shiver anymore and he was on a soft mattress instead of a firm, carpeted floor.

When his stomach woke him up with a hungry growl, Scott had to blink his eyes a few times so he could look around the unfamiliar room he was in. The lights were on, some music was playing on the radio that he saw on the nearby nightstand, and Quill was...well Scott wasn't sure what he was doing. He barely caught a glimpse of his boyfriend (boy, did he have to get used to calling him that) before he suddenly dropped to the floor, swearing under his breath.

"Help me out here! You're smaller!" Quill begs and Scott hears a snort.  
"Reach under your bed into the unknown? No thank you. I'd rather not find out what's down there." Stephen says.  
"Literally nothing. Except the stupid bottle of cold meds now!"

Well that explained where he was. He was at Quill's house. In his bed no less.

"Well take your time with that. He needs to eat before he takes any medicine anyway."  
"Just when his cough was starting to get better, this bullshit storm…" Quill trails off with a grumble.

Now that they mentioned medicine, Scott was feeling a little feverish this time around. That was great. His cold really did come back and it was kicking his ass. Scott sneezes into his arm and squints his eyes when he notices the sweater he's wearing isn't his. Actually, most of the clothes he was wearing wasn't his when he lifted the comforter to look. He was drowning in them, so that only meant they were Quill's.

The house and the smell of cinnamon were a dead giveaway to that.

"Scott?" Stephen calls for his attention and the younger drops the blanket as he sits up. "How are you feeling?"  
"Warmer...hungry." Scott admits with a rasp and attempts to clear his throat. "Why were you two out in the storm?"

Quill sits up and looks at him before looking up at Stephen. They look back at Scott after a few seconds and the oldest of the three rubs his eyes.

"I was in your neighborhood earlier today and noticed the power was out. I came by to check on you, and I knocked...a lot. Like for five minutes. You didn't answer so I drove to Stephen's to see if maybe you were at his place, but nope. We went back to your place and Stephen unlocked the door, and we found you in the living room. We brought you here to my place because you were freezing." Quill explains.  
Scott looks at Stephen. "You have a key to my house?"  
Stephen grimaces. "Once you told me your parents are always gone, I made a copy in case of an emergency. I'm sorry I didn't ask you, but I'm not sorry I did it."  
"I...it's okay." Scott mumbles. "I'd probably be dead if you didn't."  
"Hungry?" Quill asks.  
_Starving._ "It's okay. Thanks for checking on me, but you shouldn't have brought me here. I'm only intruding." Scott stammers out until both Quill and Stephen give him an unimpressed look. "Wh-what?"  
"I already talked to my grandpa. We told him your parents are out of town and that your power went out, and he would rather you spend Christmas break here than home alone." Quill reassures him.

Scott could only relent. He didn't want to impose, but he also didn't want to walk through the thunderstorm just to get to a freezing house. There also wasn't any food to speak of. Stephen did ask him when he ate last after Scott ate the soup Quill went and got for him voraciously, and the younger didn't answer him. Not at first. Stephen just stared him down until Scott finally told him that his parents didn't send him any money, and both of the older teens were _livid_. 

They calmed down relatively fast since Scott was already feeling miserable, and Stephen shoved some medicine into his hand after eventually retrieving the bottle from under the bed. Stephen hung out for another couple of hours, but Quill eventually had to drive him home. When they left, Scott was left with the t.v. Quill had in his bedroom, and dozed on and off through the movie that was playing. Scott was half conscious when Quill got back from taking Stephen home, and he smiled into his pillow when the older teen griped about the storm soaking his clothes. Dresser drawers opened and closed as his boyfriend changed into dry clothes, and then Quill slipped into bed next to him before leaning over him to turn off the lamp and grab the tv remote. 

Scott nodded off again while Quill flipped through the channels, and when he woke up again, the entire room was dark and Scott actually forgot where he was for a few moments. He jolts up into a sitting position and looks around the unfamiliar room, breathing heavily as he tries to get his bearings, and nearly jumped out of his skin when a hand gently grabs his shoulder.

"Hey. It's okay. You're at my house, in my room."

Quill's voice was familiar. It helped him anchor himself back into reality, and all his recent memories returned to him with another minute of Quill's soothing. Scott coughs into his sleeve, resisting the older teen's gentle tug, but when Quill tugs harder, the younger teen finally lays down with his back to his bedmate. He already coughed all over the guy's blankets. He didn't want to cough directly on him too.

"C'mere." Quill whispers as he slowly wraps an arm around Scott's waist.

Scott knew that Quill was just making sure he was okay with what he was doing, and since he didn't move away or protest, his boyfriend pulled him closer until Scott's back was flush with his chest. It was actually relaxing to have that body heat added to the heat he got from everything else, so after some hesitation, Scott turned so he was facing Quill. The arm around his waist moved up just enough to gently massage the back of Scott's neck, and the younger teen sighed as his muscles slowly began to relax.

Sleep came quickly for him, and Scott slept heavily until well into the next morning. Waking up to the sound of a heartbeat as well as the drone of a tv was so foreign to him that he had to put together where he was again. This time around, Scott felt safe so he took his time and even enjoyed it when he remembered he was at Quill's house. Scott was warm, comfortable, being held by someone who actually liked him, and far less lonely. 

This is what it felt like to have attention. To be noticed and _wanted_ , and a small part of Scott hated his parents for denying him this. They couldn't even unconsciously give him attention while watching tv like Quill was doing right now. The older teen was softly running his fingers up and down Scott's spine and he probably wasn't even aware he was doing it. That was when Scott realized he had attached himself to Quill's side at one point and using his shoulder as a pillow. He was so desperate for touch that his body unconsciously went searching for it when there was someone nearby willing to give it.

"Think you can manage some pancakes or eggs?" Quill rumbles.  
"Dunno."  
"Are you hungry?"  
"Hnn."  
"You're fucking adorable." The older teen laughs as he pulls his arm away. "Come on. Open those pretty eyes and go take a shower. You probably feel really gross."

Scott grunts and rolls away from Quill, and his eyes snap open when he realizes just what he meant. The younger teen felt sweaty and drenched, and with the way he glued himself to Quill's side, he probably sweat all over him too...and not in a good way. His fever must have broken sometime after his panic episode and Quill's natural body heat was likely a big help with that.

"Ugh."  
"Yeah. Feeling it now huh?"  
"'M sorry." Scott apologizes meekly.  
"Don't say sorry for something like that. It just means you're getting better. I think me and Stephen caught the start of your cold so hopefully you'll be feeling better in a couple of days." Quill says as he gets out of bed.  
"I don't have any clothes." Scott mumbles.  
"Stephen managed to pack a bag for you last night when we came over. You're just wearing my stuff since it was easier to change you into."

Scott groans and gets out of bed, stumbling into the attached bathroom to start the shower, and looks over his shoulder when Quill nudges it. He accepts the towel and clothes his boyfriend hands him and sets them on the sink, creasing his brows when Quill grins at him.

"Need any help?"  
Scott blushes bright red and starts shoving Quill out of the bathroom. "No. Get out."  
"I'm kidding. Don't lock the door though, just in case you really do need help." The older teen says seriously.

Scott nods in acknowledgement before he closes the bathroom door, and only then does he let himself smile. He was feeling under the weather, and even after sweating and coughing all over Quill and his bed, he was still concerned about Scott. He wanted to be able to get to him in case Scott slipped and fell, and it had the younger teen a little giddy to be cared for like that. 

Was this what it was like to be loved? If so, he wanted more. More of being held at night and even waking up to it, of others concern for his health, more gentle caresses…

He wanted to be taken care of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the sake of the story, the shower water is heated by electric rods instead of the more common gas burners.


	10. Chapter 10

Scott ended up staying in the shower a little too long, since Quill actually had to knock on the door and make sure he was okay, but he was enjoying a hot shower after three days. When he finally did get out, he felt a lot more human and happy to be in clothes that actually fit him. It was nice to have the smell of cinnamon enveloping him while he was sick, but Quill's clothes were big enough to make him feel like different parts of his body were being strangled or in a vice, so better fitting clothes were more comfortable.

"Did you leave any hot water for me?" Quill asks when Scott finally leaves the bathroom.  
"I...I don't know. I'm sorry. I was just so glad to have--" Scott sputters until the older teen slowly reaches out to gently massage the back of his neck, effectively silencing him.  
"I was kidding. Even if you didn't, it's fine." Quill drops his hand and heads into the steam filled bathroom. "My cousin made breakfast. Why don't you head downstairs and get some and I'll be out in a few minutes?"

Quill closes the bathroom door before Scott can answer and the younger stares at the bathroom door before glancing at the bedroom door. Go down by himself? No. Absolutely not. He didn't know anybody that might be downstairs and being alone with them terrified him. What if they asked questions? Did they even know he and Quill were dating? What if they didn't and he accidentally outed Quill to his family?

He wished he had the ability to shrink so he could run under the bed and hide, but he didn't so Scott decided to explore the bedroom instead. He noticed that Quill had changed his bed sheets since the old ones were probably covered in sweat (yuck; Scott didn't blame him for wanting to have clean sheets), and the bedroom itself was surprisingly clean. Okay, cleanish. Everything had a home, but Quill was still a typical teenager that stepped out of his pants and kicked them into a corner until he got around to actually throwing them into a hamper. With how big the pile in the corner was, Scott was actually beginning to wonder if his boyfriend even _owned_ a hamper.

Scott shakes his head and looks over at the desk and tilts his head curiously when he finds an old walkman sitting on the surface, and he sits at the desk before carefully grabbing the outdated music player. It was outdated but obviously well taken care of, so Scott could only assume it meant something to Quill. He puts the headphones on, presses play, and was pleasantly surprised when he listened to the mixtape. Scott continued to listen to the music as he looked over every inch of the walkman, and then eventually put it down with as much delicacy as possible before snooping through his boyfriend's desk.

Scott startles as he flips through a small book when the headphones are removed from his ears, and he looks up meekly. "I promise I was careful with it."  
"I know. I watched you put it down." Quill answers softly. "You didn't go downstairs did you?"  
"I don't know them." Scott whispers.  
"Okay. Let me get dressed and we'll go down together okay?"

Scott nods and halfway through the gesture he finds himself eye level with Quill's waist, and he gulps at the close up of the V of the older teen's hips disappearing into…

_He's only wearing a towel! What evil deity is trying to give me a heart attack?!_

The younger squeaks before turning away when a single drop of water starts running down Quill's ripped abdomen, and then heaves a silent sigh of relief when his boyfriend finally walks over to his dresser to grab some clothes for the day. Scott was grateful to have a warm house to stay in and be given hot meals, but staying with Quill was already testing his sanity. Not to mention the more salacious parts of his mind. They were definitely having a field day right now.

So he keeps his focus on a piece of blank paper he starts doodling on, and halfway through drawing a rather grotesque landscape, Scott stiffens when Quill comes up behind him and leans down to kiss the side of his neck. They were soft and gentle, and he could tell that Quill consciously made sure not to make Scott feel trapped, and he didn't. Quill gave him the opportunity to move away or flee if he wanted to, but Scott just melted into the attention. He slowly turned into a puddle of goo as Quill continued with the gentle affection and even let out a sigh of happiness when Quill rubbed soothing circles into the back of his neck with his thumb.

This was okay. It didn't make him want to run and hide. He actually wanted to make Quill sit or lay down so he could curl up against him again.

"Pancakes...eggs...sausage…" Quill starts mumbling against Scott's neck.  
"Hashbrowns?" Scott asks hopefully and the older teen laughs as he moves away.  
"I'm pretty sure Sophie made everything. Come on." Quill turns the chair and pulls Scott out of it before pushing him toward the bedroom door. "Hurry up before everyone eats everything."

Everyone? Scott was only aware of Quill's grandpa and cousin. How many people were visiting or even living here? When they got downstairs and stepped into the kitchen, Scott wanted turn right back around and go back up to Quill's room. There had to be at least ten people and they all looked at him the second he and Quill walked in. Scott was suddenly very uncomfortable and subconsciously half hid behind his beast of a boyfriend in an attempt to escape from inquiring eyes.

"I'm glad to see you looking better." The elderly man at the stove says and the young woman beside him nods.  
"Peter gave us all a scare when he burst through the front door with you."

Well that was embarrassing.

"I'm sorry for intruding." Scott whispers and Quill's grandpa points at the table with the spatula in his hand.  
"Peter already told us your situation. You're more than welcome here. Why don't you both go sit down and get something to eat?"

Quill directs Scott to the table, and they pile both of their plates with food as some of the others join them at the table. There really was some of everything, and Scott took a little both of it all before he started to munch on some bacon he could thankfully taste. Sitting at the table for a meal with a family was foreign to him. He didn't know what to do, so Scott was content to eat while Quill and his family conversed. Even if he wasn't actively part of the family thing, it still brought a fuzzy feeling and he didn't mind being ignored. 

Well, he wasn't really ignored. Quill's family asked him an innocent question here and there that he gave them a mumbled answer to, and at one point, he felt his heart swell when Quill poured him some orange juice. Scott had been eyeing the carton across the table for the better part of five minutes but didn't want to interrupt any of the conversations, and Quill seemed to catch on. He just grabbed Scott's glass, reached across the table for the carton, and filled it up before handing it to Scott and he drank it gratefully.

Breakfast went by, and Scott quietly offered to help clean up, but Sophie (the earlier woman) just waved him away and told him he was a guest. He and Quill went back upstairs, full and content, and Scott gave into the temptation to crawl onto the bed when they got into the bedroom. He wasn't as sick as he was last night, but his body was still recovering and sapping every bit of energy he had. Scott really wanted to take a nap.

"Want me to put on a movie?" Quill asks as his looks through his collection.  
"Sure." Scott replies with a sleepy slur.  
"I'd ask if you want to choose but I can see you're already starting to fall asleep." The older teen teases as he pops a movie in.

Scott only hums in confirmation and dozes between awareness and actual sleep while the movie plays and Quill does whatever. About halfway through the movie, Scott is dragged back into awareness when he hears his boyfriend fiddling with the walkman, and he cracks his eyes open to watch him. Quill actually treated it with as much gentleness as Scott had earlier that morning, and it only piqued the younger's curiosity.

"What's so special about it?" Scott murmurs and Quill looks over at him.  
"Oh...uh...it's the last thing I have of my mom."  
Scott frowns. "I'm sorry for using it without asking."  
"It's okay. You were careful with it. I don't mind if you want to listen to it again." Quill says as he puts the walkman back on his desk. "She died when I was eight. Cancer."  
"Your dad?"  
Quill shrugs. "I don't know who he is."  
"Why would you get pissed about my parents…?" Scott questions and the older boy scowls.  
"Because they ignore you! My mom was awesome and she loved me, and after she died I was lucky to have my grandfather. But you?" Quill rubs his eyes. "You don't have anyone and it made me realize how lucky I was. Even if I never knew my dad."  
Scott shrugs and closes his eyes again. "I have you and Stephen now."

Quill huffs and Scott feels the bed dip a few moments later.

"Scoot."

Scott rolls onto his side so Quill can sit on the bed and watch the movie he's partially listening to, and eventually returns to his earlier dozing. A knock on Quill's bedroom door disturbs him again but he keeps his eyes closed when Quill calls out. He hears the door open behind him and tries to doze off again when he hears Quill's grandfather talking, and then he focuses on the conversation when he hears his name.

"He was quiet at breakfast."  
"That's just how he is."  
"Peter...do you know if he's abused?"

Scott's blood ran cold. He couldn't kick Quill in warning since they were both on top of the covers, so all he could do was hope that he wouldn't spill the beans or give any indication to what his home life actually was. Scott's parents may neglect him, but he had a roof over his head and they sent him money for food (not including recently), and Scott was finally starting to make friends. A friend and a boyfriend but they gave him the attention he needed. Scott was actually opening up to the amount of affection Quill was offering him, and was even starting to think about going to him for more.

If Quill said anything, Scott would be taken away without a doubt, and he would have to start all over again.

"I don't think so." Quill thankfully lies.  
"What are his parents doing out of town this close to Christmas?"  
"Work, I think. They told Scott they would be back before Christmas but the weather is probably keeping them away. Stephen left a note in case they get back before I take Scott home. With our number."  
"Alright. I don't mind if he stays. I just had to be sure."

The door closes a few seconds later, and Scott chances looking over his shoulder to look at Quill. He catches a glimpse of rage in his boyfriend's eyes just before Quill covers it up, and Scott yelps when the older teen suddenly grabs him and pulls him into his arms. Scott could somehow feel the heartbreak that Quill was suffering from just from the hug alone, and he slowly returns it.

"I hated lying about it."  
"Thank you." Scott whispers and allows Quill to hold him tighter.

They stayed like that until lunch, Scott finally actually falling asleep when Quill started massaging the back of his neck again. Sandwiches were made by his grandfather and brought back up to the bedroom so they could eat and watch a movie, and after lunch Scott and Quill spent time playing different card games. The older teen was really good at poker, and made a passing joke about how it was too bad that they weren't playing strip poker, and Scott blushes hotly at the implication. He most definitely would have been completely naked if they were.

Dinner was eaten downstairs and it passed similarly to breakfast, and thankfully Quill's grandfather didn't ask any questions about Scott's life at home. He seemed to accept what Quill told him, and as long as Scott didn't give any reason for the family to think otherwise, he was in the clear. They easily accepted that Scott would be spending Christmas with them and were gracious enough not to overwhelm him with questions or attention in general.

Then Scott realized...he would be spending Christmas with Quill and his family. No big deal. He would just stay upstairs while they spent time together opening presents and other traditions, and he would be content to watch movies all day. It's what he did every year at home anyway. He would be so quiet they would forget he was even here.

And suddenly, his heart broke at the thought. They would forget about him, something he was used to, and now it bothered him? It always bothered him, but now that he was slowly getting used to attention, being ignored was affecting him more. Even just the thought of it.

No. He wouldn't intrude on their Christmas. He was just fine with staying up in Quill's room and that was that. Maybe if the weather cleared up, he could leave before then so he wasn't intruding and eating their food anymore either.

"Scott."  
Said teen looks up at Quill from the pajama shirt he was changing into. "What?"  
"Is something bothering you?"   
"No. Why do you ask?"  
"Something just seemed...off about you at dinner." Quill elaborates as he finishes changing.  
"I'm fine. Maybe you were picking up on how tired I'm feeling."

Quill grunts out a maybe as they climb into bed, and Scott braves scooting closer to the bigger teen and is immediately awarded with Quill wrapping an arm around him. Instead of turning so they fall asleep like the night before with his back to Quill's chest, Scott remains as he is with his nose against his boyfriend's collarbone and tucked against his side. With another small adjustment, Scott had his head on Quill's shoulder and a leg over one of his, and he almost immediately fell asleep once he was comfortable.

They were, of course, rudely awakened by some birds the next morning that were singing rather loudly and it had Quill groaning just as loud.

"What the fuck are birds so excited about at five in the morning?!"  
Scott sniggers. "Probably the break in the storm."  
"Well they're about to get bitch slapped by reality in about half an hour." Quill grumbles. "The storm will be coming back then."

The birds continue chirping loudly right outside the window, and Quill grabs Scott's unused pillow and throws it at the window, making it shudder under the impact. The birds fall silent for all of ten seconds before they start up again and Quill throws his arm over his face with another frustrated groan.


	11. Chapter 11

Christmas day came on fast. It was just like every morning since Quill brought him to his house, the storm blowing just as loud and hard as it was almost a week ago, and Scott wondered how long the storm was going to last. Six days had to be a record, and it was a miracle the streets weren't flooded. It was an even bigger one when Quill's neighborhood continued to have power. Quill took Scott home yesterday to grab some clean clothes and whatever else he might need, and the house was still as cold as they left it. Still no power.

Scott couldn't stay at Quill's forever though. He would have to go back home whether the power was back on or not and he wasn't looking forward to sleeping in an icebox again and going hungry. He was going to enjoy every moment he could with hot food and his own personal teddy bear. That's what Quill was after all, and it took staying the past few days at his house for Scott to discover that. He might be big and intimidating, but Quill was just a big softy toward those he cared about. Scott started to accept the fact that he was one of those people.

It was still a foreign concept, but Quill and Stephen were consistent enough that Scott allowed himself to start feeling less invisible.

At least when he didn't wake up with the comforter over his entire body. Scott was still curled up to Quill's side and using his shoulder as a pillow, but the older teen must have decided that Scott wasn't warm enough and brought the comforter up over his head. Considering Quill was a living, breathing heater though, Scott had to push the blanket down to get some cooler air before he suffocated. In fact, he needed a few seconds away from his boyfriend's heat and rolled away to cool down...only to have Quill growl and pull him back. Scott wasn't bothered with being pulled back against Quill, but the growl was weird. It was deep, possessive, and it sounded strange. Ethereal if he had to describe it.

Scott had to beat down his arousal before it made itself known. "Q-Quill...let go."

Instant release. The arm Quill had around Scott's back loosened, and the younger took the opportunity to roll away from him and bury his face into his cool, unused pillow. The moment he started to cool down, Scott fell back asleep again for another hour or so, and was woken up by Quill placing soft kisses on the exposed parts of his neck.

"Hnnnn...five more minutes." Scott mumbles and Quill chuckles.  
"You do realize it's Christmas right?"  
"So what? Wanna sleep." The younger grunts out. "You go on ahead."  
"Alright, alright." Quill places one more kiss on the back of his neck, and then rolls out of bed. "I'll head down first. Take your extra five minutes then come eat."

Quill leaves the bedroom and Scott exhales heavily as soon as the door closes. Good. Quill would spend time with his family and do what they usually did on Christmas, and Scott would stay upstairs and be quiet as a mouse. He took his extra five minutes in bed, but then he got bored and couldn't fall asleep, so he crawled out of bed and sat at Quill's desk. With care, he put on the walkman headphones and started to doodle on a piece of paper as he listened to the mixtape, and he ended up grabbing another pencil to tap it against the desk as he drew.

Christmas didn't mean anything to him. It was just another day he spent at home keeping himself busy, but since he wasn't home he had to make do with what Quill had in his room. He could doodle, watch TV or a movie, or he could read. Scott was pretty sure he saw a book or two in Quill's room. He was content to draw for now though. His only problem was how he was going to eat. At home he would just go downstairs and eat whenever, but he wasn't home and he didn't want to disturb Quill and his family.

He would just have to go without today.

" _SCOTT!_ " Said teen jumps at the sudden yell and he pulls off the headphones to let them rest around his neck as he looks over at Quill. "What are you still doing up here?"  
"Um…" Scott watches as Quill walks over to stop the music and take the headphones off of him completely to return to the walkman sitting on his desk. "I was keeping myself busy."  
"Keeping yourself…?" Quill furrows his brows in confusion. "It's Christmas."  
"Yeah...I know." Scott turns back to his awful drawing to continue scribbling a tree into the background.

Quill seemed to understand that Scott was happy to stay up in the room as he walked away and left him to his drawing, but just as the younger was going to start up some music again, the bedroom door opened again. Did the older teen abandon time with his family so Scott wouldn't be alone? That wasn't right. Besides his grandfather, Quill didn't see his family very often and Scott didn't want to take away from that any more than he had. Just as he was about to turn his head to tell Quill to spend time with his family, the older teen set a small flat box, wrapped in brightly colored paper, on top of Scott's crudely drawn landscape.

"What's this?" Scott asks carefully.  
"A Christmas present. For you." Quill answers and his eyes widen in surprise when Scott pushes away from the desk and makes his chair roll back.  
"No!"  
"What the hell? No?"  
"I can't accept that!" Scott stammers.  
"Why the fuck not?" Quill asks with some disappointment.  
"I wasn't expecting anything and I didn't get anything for you! I can't even afford to! You and your family--"  
"Scott."  
"--have done way more than enough for me and I don't even deserve your kindness. I'm just an unfortunate guest--"  
"Wow, you really do word vomit." The older teen whispers.  
"--that you had to put up for a few days so I didn't freeze or starve to death. I promise I'll pay you guys back somehow once I get-- _mmph_!" 

Scott's rant was interrupted mid-sentence when Quill stepped closer to Scott, leaned down, and tilted the younger's head up by his chin to kiss him. Any further thought Scott had evaporated the moment he processed that Quill was kissing him, and he sat in stunned silence when his boyfriend finally pulled away. Was he breathing? No. He should probably do that.

"Merry Christmas to me." Quill says with a sly smirk and Scott blushes bright red. "I promise your gift to me is a lot better than what I got you, so will you please open it?"  
"Okay." Scott wheezes out and accepts the small present that Quill grabs from the desk and hands to him.

He stared at the gift like it was going to bite him if he tried to open it, but he gathered himself after a few seconds and gently pulled at the ribbon to untie it and let it fall into his lap. The paper was next and got the same treatment as the ribbon, and then Scott opened the box to find two identical black woven bracelets. One just a little bigger than the other. Quill grabs the smaller one and silently asks for Scott's arm once he crouches down, and Scott holds up his left arm and watches him snap it onto his wrist. He then takes the second one and places it on his own (left) wrist and then looks up at Scott with a raised eyebrow.

"Like I said, it's not much and I know this relationship is kind of new, but it can still be a friendship bracelet--wow...that sounded so much better in my head." Quill says with a short. "I just thought of you when I saw them and I had a feeling you've never gotten a gift before, so I got them."

Quill thought of him. He saw a matching pair of woven bracelets and _thought of him_. That was the greatest gift Quill could have given him, even if he never bought the bands...and stealing a kiss from Scott was Quill's Christmas present from him? Scott could do better than that. He hoped.

He shoves the remains of the wrappings off of his lap, slides off the chair into Quill's lap, and grips the older teen's hair before kissing him. He didn't care that he was inexperienced and was probably going about this all wrong, but it didn't matter once Quill took control of the kiss. One of his hands gripped the back of Scott's neck, and the other landed at the small of his back to bring him even closer as he gently bit Scott's lower lip, and then he suddenly had Quill's tongue in his mouth. Merry Christmas to Scott.

He even tasted like cinnamon.

"Fuck, you even taste like mint and oranges." Quill groans into his mouth, and then tilts Scott's head back to nibble on his pulse point.

He wanted more. He wanted to be held tighter and turn into a puddle of goo for Quill to do whatever he wanted with, because this much touch and affection was overwhelming. Overwhelming and amazing, and Scott was drinking it in like he was dehydrated. When he whimpered after Quill pulled away from his neck with a pop, the older teen groaned and Scott had to keep himself from getting too excited. Quill brought his head back down to return his attention to Scott's mouth, and this time he tried to reciprocate the kiss. Scott had no intention to fight for dominance, he just wanted to taste the cinnamon in every corner of his boyfriend's mouth.

Even if that meant sucking on his tongue...but Quill beat him to it. He sucked and sucked until Scott was sure his tongue was going to be detached from his mouth, and then Quill finally stopped. He gently nipped and pulled at Scott's lower lip again as he pulled away and then rested his forehead against Scott's as they both worked on catching their breath.

"If we go any further, things might get awkward." Quill gasps out and Scott catches another flash in his eyes when he manages to sputter out a laugh. "That was only half of your present by the way."  
Scott blinks at him once he moves his head away a bit. "There's more?"  
"Yup. This is something you need too."

Scott tilts his head in curiosity after Quill lifts him off his lap and onto the floor, and the older teen gets up and walks over to his closet door. It was a small walk-in, so Quill disappeared into it for a second, but when he came out, he was holding a teddy bear that was a little over half Scott's size. The younger teen stares at the stuffed animal once Quill places it on the ground in front of him and then reaches out to touch the soft material of the fur.

"Hold on. Something's missing." Quill states as he scrutinizes the bear. "Wait. I got it." He disappears into his closet again, brings out a black sweater, and puts it on the bear. "There. Now you have something to cuddle when I can't be there to do it myself."

Scott grabs the bear and pulls it closer to him to look over and he runs his hands over the soft fur. At least what wasn't covered by Quill's sweater. The teddy bear was an overwhelming gift in a different way. A good way. Scott never had a Christmas before, and he never had a stuffed animal either. Today, Quill gave him both and Scott could only wrap his arms around the stuffed toy and bury his face into it and try to hold his tears back. He almost failed when he smelled cinnamon on the bear.

"You like it?" Quill asks nervously. "I know your gifts are kind of dumb…"  
"No. They're great. I really do need the bear." Scott mumbles against the stuffed animal.  
"Good. Now how about you put it aside for now and come downstairs with me? We'll make you some hot apple cider and you can have cookies and chocolate for breakfast if you want." The older teen holds out his hand and Scott looks up from his bear at it.  
"I don't want to intrude on your time with your family."  
"Even when they're asking where you are? Besides, I'm pretty sure there are a couple more presents waiting downstairs for you."

Scott looks at Quill in surprise when he mentions the gifts and takes his hand to allow his boyfriend to pull him to his feet. The younger sets his teddy bear next to his side of the bed before following Quill to the bedroom door, and then squeaks when the older teen stops him long enough for another kiss. Scott follows Quill in a daze after he moves away and opens the door, and they walk down the hall and then the stairs to the kitchen. There, Sophie makes him some cider and sends him into the living room where all of the cookies and sweets are, and Scott stops in the entryway. 

The living room was decorated for Christmas, and that wasn't even including the tree in the corner near the window. Scott never got to enjoy a Christmas tree before, and when he stepped closer, he found that it was real and could smell the pine. They were definitely nicer in person than what he saw in the movies.

"You act like you've never seen a Christmas tree before." One of Quill's cousins say from the couch (Scott couldn't recall his name).  
"Not a real one. Not in person." Scott replies quietly.  
"Guess your parents don't take the time to get a real one. You have one of those fake ones?"  
"Uh...yeah." Scott lies as he sits as far from the family as possible to enjoy his cider.

Even if this wasn't his family, it was nice watching them interact while they exchanged gifts, and Scott thoroughly enjoyed the cookies another one of the family members had made. Halfway through his second helping of cider (that Sophie had kindly topped off for him), Scott grunts out in surprise when something heavy lands in his lap. He coughs as he pulls the mug away from his mouth and looks down in his lap to find another colorfully wrapped gift waiting to be opened.

Quill returns to his side with his own gift and points to the present in Scott's lap. "That's from Stephen. I already opened mine from him. Lots of cinnamon candy and a dictionary. I'm pretty sure the dictionary was a funny insult."  
"I think he gave me bricks." Scott wheezes out, and Quill sniggers as he takes the younger's mug so he can open the present. 

It wasn't bricks. It was a box of Capri Suns, a couple of books, and a couple bags of orange slice candies. When Scott dug a little deeper into the box, he found a first aid kit as well, and he huffed in both appreciation and annoyance. He was prone to getting sick, not busting his head open. Knowing his luck though, he would need it eventually, and Stephen was just three steps ahead like always.

"Here I thought orange juice was the reason you taste like oranges." Quill mutters just loud enough for only Scott to hear and the younger teen blushes.  
"You still have to figure out why I taste like mint." Scott mutters back, blushing even more when he realized he had just flirted with Quill.  
"I'm always up for a challenge. Especially when it comes to you."


	12. Chapter 12

When Quill took Scott home the day after Christmas, they were pleased to find that the power had been restored and the heater had kicked on while Scott was away. So instead of just grabbing some clean clothes to take with him to Quill's house, Scott dropped his overnight bag on his bed in his room and started unpacking it. A thud followed by a soft curse comes into his room from the hallway, and Quill walks in carrying Scott's oversized teddy bear and rubbing his shoulder.

"There was a wall." The older teen sets the bear on the bed and watches Scott throw his dirty laundry into his hamper in his closet. "What are you doing?"  
"Unpacking?" Scott informs him. "The power and heat are back on."  
Quill frowns. "What about food?"  
"I'll go to the bank in a bit and check to see if my parents left me money."  
"I'll take you."

Scott agreed, and to his relief, there was money for him in his account when they went to the bank and checked. They went straight to the grocery store to buy food, and when they got back to Scott's house, Quill helped him put everything away...of course with the occasional brush against Scott's neck. Each brush earned a slight blush from the younger, and when they finished, they sat on the couch to watch tv.

Scott enjoyed every last second of cuddling he could get from his boyfriend before he left, and when Quill finally (reluctantly) left to head back home, Scott retrieved his teddy bear from his bedroom. It kept him company for the rest of Christmas break, and even though he didn't get to spend New Year's with Stephen or Quill, at least his boyfriend was with him in spirit since Scott's teddy bear smelt of cinnamon and wore one of Quill's sweaters. Scott even named his bear so it felt less like a toy and more like a companion. He called it Cinnamon. It wasn't very creative but the bear smelled of it and reminded him of Quill.

The bear helped him sleep better too.

When Scott went back to school, there were more stares and a very unattractive glower from Rachel, and it didn't take long to find out why. Based on the whispers he heard around him, someone found out that he spent the first half of the break with Quill and Scott just chalked it up to the wrong person overhearing a conversation. He was more worried about ignoring Rachel and not giving her a reason to pounce and say something to belittle Scott again.

"Sorry I couldn't come to keep you company on New Year's." Stephen says when he steps up next to Scott.  
"It's okay. Christmas made up for it."   
"How did that go?" The older asks and Scott blushes.  
"W-we...he...umm…"  
Stephen raises an eyebrow. "I didn't think you two would get as far as sex this early in the relationship."  
Scott turns bright red. "No! We didn't! He just...we just…" He looks down when he feels his ears burning and whispers. "We kissed."

Stephen stares at him for a few moments, and just when Scott thought the older boy was going to laugh at him, he just sighed and pulled him into a hug. Scott heard him mumble something under his breath, but he wasn't able to make it out. He was able to return the hug though despite the surrounding students. Scott found that he couldn't care as much about the other students when he was with Stephen or Quill since they were like a wall of protection for him.

"I'd hate to think how you'll be if sex ever comes into the equation." Stephen mutters and Scott hides his burning face into the older teen's shoulder.

_Don't remind me._

===========

Spring break came up incredibly fast, and during the time leading up to it, Scott got more and more used to Quill's touches whether they were more intimate or not. Hugs, neck massages, make out sessions where no one would see them (heavier ones when they were at Scott's), and a couple of times Quill even grabbed his ass. That was strictly at home though. Where they were currently working on their homework with Stephen. 

It was innocent at first. They sat around the coffee table with some snacks and something to drink, working on their respective assignments after Scott helped Quill with his math, when the youngest felt his boyfriend's hand slip under his shirt. It just stayed in the middle of his back at first, but after a little while, Quill started to rub soothing circles on it. Okay. That was nice and his hand was warm too so that was a bonus. The soothing circles turned into a gentle graze down his back that sent a chill up his spine, and Quill's hand settled on his hip until they had all finished their homework.

Stephen packs up his books after looking at the digital clock nearby. "I have to get going. My brother and sister need help with something today. I'll be back tomorrow."  
"Sure." Scott says as he and Quill put their own things away and then gets up to walk Stephen to the door. "Their homework?"  
"Victor, yes. Donna is falling behind on some community event she signed up to help with."  
"The Easter egg hunt for the kids?" Quill asks from the coffee table.  
"Maybe. I didn't ask." Stephen shrugged before heading out the door and waving over his shoulder.  
"How are you getting home?" Scott wonders.  
"The bus. There's still one more before they stop for the night."  
"Okay. Be careful."

Stephen waves again and Scott closes the door once the older teen turns the corner, and he holds his breath when a hand slammed against the wall beside the door. Scott exhales sharply when Quill presses up against his back and leans down to trail butterfly kisses against his neck and his eyes widen when Quill's other hand reaches out to bolt the front door. That wasn't just a simple lock of the door like it would have been if Stephen did it, because it definitely had more meaning behind it.

Like a 'Do Not Disturb' meaning.

It had Scott's entire body heating up.

"What now? A movie and some cuddling? Maybe a really long have-to-come-up-for-air makeout session?" Quill lowers his hand from the lock on the door, down to Scott's ass and squeezes gently. "Or maybe something different?"

Something different? Scott knew what that meant and he was terribly conflicted. He wanted to. He did. He trusted Quill, but he didn't trust himself. He didn't know if he would be any good and he knew he wouldn't be the senior's first so that just put even more pressure on him. Reading about sex was one thing, but actually doing it? An entirely different story. He only knew that because it was the same with kissing and hugging. Actually doing those was much different than the experiences he read about in books or watched in movies.

Wow...he was a bit of a loser when he thought about it.

The insecure part of Scott won out. "Just a movie?" He asks quietly and sighs with relief when Quill moves away from his neck with a sound of confirmation. "...and cuddling."  
"Whatever you want Sugar."

There was that pet name again. He hadn't heard it since before winter break but it was different this time. Before, Quill was on the edge of sleep and barely managed to slur it out, but this time it came out with an accent. A southern lilt. It had Scott shivering from the way it lit up his nerves.

"Say that again."  
Quill remains quiet for a few beats, and then leans back down close to Scott's ear. "Whatever you want…" The older teen moves his hand away from Scott's ass up to his neck to gently tilt his head to the side. "...Sugar."

That was a southern accent for sure. An accent accompanied by the strange ethereal growl that Quill made over winter break that one morning, and Scott sighed out in delight. If Quill kept talking like that, Scott was bound to do anything the older teen asked of him. Even jump into bed with--

_Whoa. Wait a minute._

"Movie!" Scott nearly shouts as he peels himself away from Quill and rushes over to the living room to look at his collection of movies. "Comedy or…" Scott pulls a movie off the shelf and scrunches his nose at it. "...trashy horror? I think me and Stephen fell asleep with this one too."  
"Hold up." Quill walks over to Scott and turns him around until the younger's back is to the shelves full of movies. "I did something you liked. What was it?"

_Everything._

"Y-you're...umm...the accent." The younger admits with a stammer and Quill raises an eyebrow.  
"My what?"  
"Everytime you call me...when you call me…" Scott blushes as he trails off.  
"Sugar?"

The southern lilt shone through again as well as the weird growl, and Scott's knees actually gave out. If it weren't for Quill grabbing his hips and pulling the younger teen against him, Scott would have fallen to the floor in a boneless heap. Why did the accent turn him on so much? The ethereal growl was just the icing on the cake and he wanted to hear more. He wanted to hear the accent, the growl, and he wanted the smell of cinnamon and Quill's natural body heat to surround him.

He wanted Quill.

_It's about time too._

"Do you trust me?" Quill asks him and Scott nods. "Just say stop and I will."

Once Scott nods again, Quill's hands slide down the younger's legs and grip the back of his thighs to lift him up and Scott instinctively wraps them around Quill's waist. He didn't even know he had that instinct. He shouldn't considering his history with touch, but maybe the older teen just brought it all out.

Another pleased sigh escapes past Scott's lips as Quill tilts his head to the side to give attention to his neck again, and he quickly wrapped his arms around the older teen when he moves them away from the shelves. At first Scott thought that Quill was just taking them over to the couch, but he actually walked straight past It and over to the stairs. He almost forgot that this wasn't the first time Quill carried him up to bed, and this time around, Scott was fully awake to appreciate how strong his boyfriend was. His strength seemed just a little unnatural, even if Quill played football, but he had no complaints. Scott didn't think he would be able to walk up the stairs himself anyway.

Quill grunts when he hits the wall as he turns the corner at the top of the stairs. "Fucking wall." He complains against Scott's neck.  
"Quill?" The younger mumbles as he enjoys the continuous assault against his neck.  
"Hnn?"  
"There's a wall there."  
"Brat. Think you're being cute?" The older teen grumbles as he walks into Scott's room and falls onto his bed with the younger laying under him. "You would be underestimating yourself. You're much more than that."

Scott blushes bright red and Quill turns his attention from his neck to his lips, not hesitating to plunge his tongue into Scott's mouth. As he tastes every inch of the younger's mouth, Quill's hands busy themselves by reaching up under Scott's shirt to gently caress every bit of skin there. Scott barely noticed when the kiss was broken just long enough to remove his shirt, and then again when Quill took off his own. The gentle touches and kisses continued like this until nothing was left except their boxers, and Quill always took off whatever article of clothing from himself that he took off the younger teen.

It was his way of making sure Scott didn't feel completely exposed and it definitely did help. If Quill only took off Scott's clothes and not his own, Scott would have felt like he was under a microscope, but his boyfriend remained ever vigilant of his insecurities and inexperience. Every touch from then on remained careful and Quill always asked silently for permission, even as the older teen finally filled him after removing the rest of their clothing long before. Quill didn't move at all while Scott worked through the overwhelming feelings of being surrounded and _filled_ with someone else, but he didn't let himself cry. It was difficult but he managed it and finally let Quill continue with a single nod.

Scott enjoyed the gentle encouragement and sweet nothing's that his boyfriend whispered into his ear as he thrust into him, and when he finally came with a moan, Scott caught another glimpse of the weird flash of light he had been seeing in Quill's eyes. It stayed for just a second longer and Scott saw that the color had some light to it, but then it disappeared again just before Quill followed the younger's release with his own. When they both came down from their temporary high, the older teen placed gentle kisses all over Scott's face before laying his forehead against the younger's.

"Scott. Look at me." When he opens his eyes to regard the teen above him, Quill lifts his head just enough to look down at him while he caressed his cheek. "I love you."  
Scott's eyes widen. "What?"  
"I love you." Quill repeats with a smile that quickly turns into a frown when tears start to trickle out of the younger's eyes. "You've never heard that before either have you?"

Scott could only answer with a stifled sob and easily went into Quill's arms when he laid beside Scott and pulled him against his chest. He knew Quill meant what he said because he didn't say it before, or even in the moment while they had sex, but he said it _after_. It meant Quill intended to stick around and actually cared about and loved him like he said he did. He wasn't just in it for a quick fuck.

And yes, Scott had never heard those words directed toward him before. Not even from his own parents. Quill really was a lot of Scott's firsts.

"I'm sorry." Scott whispers after his tears finally subside.  
"Don't apologize. Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"  
"I'm okay." Scott relaxes in his boyfriend's arms and sighs quietly.  
"Good." Quill rumbles.  
"Quill?"  
"What baby?" He asks after he yawns.  
Scott smiles softly and buries his face into the older boy's collarbone. "I love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was lazy with the smut on purpose. This isn't the end by the way. There's still more to come!


	13. Chapter 13

They slept through the night when they fell asleep and Scott slept soundly in the security of Quill's arms. When he woke up the next morning, Scott was alone in his bed but the part of the mattress where Quill had slept was still warm so Scott was only worried that the older teen might have left now that he got into the younger's pants. It was a small worry. The rest of him truly believed that Quill meant what he said the night before and had simply slipped from the bed to use the bathroom.

When Scott lifted his head to look at his bathroom door though, he found it open and devoid of his boyfriend. His small worry grew bigger as he looked around his room and when he still didn't see Quill, he got out of bed and got dressed when he found that the older teen must have cleaned them up sometime after Scott passed out. He would shower properly once he figured out where Quill wandered off to.

He pulls on his boxers and the closest shirt he could find (which happened to be Quill's and dampened that worry he had) and shuffles out of his bedroom with a yawn. He rubs the remaining sleep from his eyes as he starts to walk down the stairs, but then stops on the last few steps when he hears a hushed conversation from the kitchen around the corner.

"....if you hurt him--" Stephen hisses out.  
"What the hell do you take me for?!"  
"You've had other relationships. He's new to all of this. _All of it._ "  
"I love him." Quill argues and Stephen scoffs.  
"How many people have you said that to?"

There was a pregnant silence and Scott's heart dropped into his stomach as he wondered the same thing. Quill did have other relationships before so Scott couldn't have been the first person he had feelings for, right? The older teen's confession suddenly didn't feel as genuine.

"None."

_What?_

"What?" Stephen echoes Scott's thoughts and Quill huffs.  
"I never said that to anyone. Scott is the first." The oldest admits.  
"...why?"  
"Others were just worried about sex and being able to brag about the fact they were able to get that from me...but Scott...he's different. He doesn't want that attention. He just wants to be loved, to be seen, and I want to give that to him. He could stop talking to me altogether and it might hurt me but I would back off if that made him happy. I just want to see him smile."   
Stephen sighs. "Did you pressure him into having sex?"  
"I...I don't think so. I told him he can tell me to stop at any time and he didn't."  
"I'm serious about what I said. If you hurt him, I will come after you."  
"That's the last thing I want."

Scott turns and returns back upstairs with a smile and grabs some _clean_ clothes from his dresser before jumping in the shower. Halfway through his quick scrub down, he hears a thud and stifles a laugh when he hears Quill gripe about the 'fucking wall' that he ran into for the third time and it made Scott wonder if Quill had run into it when he carried Scott up to bed when he was sick all that time ago. Considering he walked into the corner every time he tried to walk around it to get to Scott's room, it was very likely.

When the younger finally shuts off the shower, he towels himself dry and gets dressed in a t-shirt and sweatpants before opening the bathroom door and he finds Quill standing in the middle of the room and scratching the back of his head. When the older teen turns to face him, Scott tilts his head curiously when he finds a look of confusion on his boyfriend's face.

Of course, that was after he admired the muscles out on display.

"...you seen it?"  
Scott blinks and looks up at Quill's face. "What?"  
Quill smirks. "Have you seen my shirt?"  
"Oh...uh…" Scott turns back to the bathroom and grabs Quill's shirt from the floor before turning and holding it out to his boyfriend. "I...borrowed it for a second."  
"Man, I missed out on that?" The older complains as he pulls his shirt on. "Stephen is here. He brought tacos for lun--hey!" 

If there was one thing at the top of the list of things Scott loved, tacos was one of them, and he would gladly ditch Quill to have them. He practically ran out of his room, almost tripped down the stairs when he himself ran into the corner of the wall that Quill was friendly with, and just made it to the kitchen counter when the bag sitting on it was plucked out of his reach. Scott pouts when Stephen holds it out of his reach and raises an eyebrow at him, and the youngest sighs when the junior points to the table.

"You don't get the bag. It's the one time I'm afraid you won't leave anything for us." Stephen pulls out a few tacos and hands them as well as a Capri Sun to Scott who takes them to the table to munch on happily.  
"Dude, I just got ditched for tacos." Quill complains as he walks into the kitchen and accepts the tacos Stephen holds out to him. "Thanks Mom." Stephen glares at him and pointedly looks at Quill while he shakes a soda can and offers it to the oldest boy. "You're a dick."  
"Don't call me Mom."  
"You act like one." Quill says as he picks up his shaken soda and holds it out over the sink before opening it. He grimaces when some of the bubbly drink overflows and drips on his hands and then takes a drink when it finally settles. "Especially toward Scott."  
"He's like a little brother to me."

The two oldest boys look over at the table when they hear Scott hack and watch the boy cough on the mouthful of juice he had in his mouth. A little brother? Sure, Scott sort of looked at Stephen like the older brother he never had, but he never would have believed that the sentiment would be returned. To be honest, Stephen was a friend, a sibling, and a parent all rolled into one person because he took care of Scott. Since his mom and dad weren't around to do it, Stephen took the job on for himself.

For the most part. He was still only sixteen after all. Stephen really would be a great parent if he had kids in the future.

"Are you okay?" Stephen asks him and Scott waves at him as he unwraps his third taco.  
"Fine. Wrong pipe." He wheezes out.

The other two join him at the table with their own food and Scott smiles when Stephen slips another juice pouch to him when the youngest finishes his first one. They both glance at Quill after Scott stabs his straw into the second pouch, and again a flash crossed the senior's eyes, but this time Stephen noticed it. He furrowed his eyebrows and looks at Scott to silently ask if he saw it too, and Scott shrugs his confirmation. As if to say 'yeah I saw it, but I don't know what it was.'

It was the truth after all. Scott was starting to notice a pattern to the weird flashes though. They only happened when Scott was visibly happy. Stephen unfortunately wasn't curious enough to ask Quill about it, but it made sense since it was the first time he saw it happen. He probably assumed the same thing Scott did when he first saw it. That it was a trick of the light.

"So did you get your sister all caught up with whatever event she signed up to help with?" Quill asked around a mouthful of taco and Stephen scrunches his nose in disgust.  
"Yes. Got home and found out she was helping with the egg hunt _and_ the spring play. I spent most of yesterday filling plastic eggs with chocolate and painting props after helping my brother with his homework." Stephen drawls.  
"Sounds boring."  
"Extremely...but I at least got her caught up."  
Scott sucks the remaining bits of sour cream off his fingers. "Did there happen to be any extra chocolate?"  
"Some." Stephen nods. "I ate it all though."  
Quill snickers. "Sounds like Stephen is a chocolate whore."

The junior kicks Quill's shins under the table and the older boy hisses at the sudden painful attack. Scott smirks as he lazily drinks his juice while the other two finish their lunch and then starts to budget his remaining money in his head. If he puts a few bucks aside, he could probably buy himself some chocolate since he never got himself that luxury before. He never really cared about holidays until recently, and wouldn't mind at least getting himself a treat after discovering how wonderful the holidays could be.

"I think I have a few extra dollars." Scott eventually says as he looks at Quill. "Could you take me to the store so I can maybe buy some chocolate or something?"  
"Sure. Early Easter celebration?"  
"A birthday present too. Can't afford to celebrate both separately." Scott answers with a shrug and pauses when the two older boys freeze and stare at him. "What?"  
"Birthday?" Stephen asks slowly.  
"Hmm? Oh yeah. It's today."

The next five minutes happened in a blur. Scott startled when the two older teens jumped out of their seats, and he squeaked when Stephen grabbed his wrist and dragged him out of his chair and up to his room. He then had a pair of pants thrown at him and then his boots when he changed into his jeans, and he barely got his shoes tied when he was dragged back downstairs and out the front door and practically thrown into the back of Quill's car. He had no idea what was going on. Quill and Stephen were speaking so fast that it seemed like they were speaking in tongues and Scott's mind was still spinning from the flurry of being dragged up and down the stairs at home. Quill dropped Stephen off at the mall after slipping him some money that Scott almost didn't catch, and then before he knew it, he and Quill were parked outside an ice cream parlor.

"Quill? What's going on?" Scott flinches when the older teen turns in his seat to look at him in bewilderment.  
"We're celebrating your birthday as well as we can since we just found out about it twenty minutes ago. How can I be dating you and not know when your birthday is?"  
"Celebrating birthdays is actually a thing?!"  
"Sugar, you're breaking my heart."

Scott blinks as Quill gets out of the car and he climbs out of the backseat when he opens the back door and follows the older teen inside after Quill closes the car door.

"Tell me your favorite flavor and sit your pretty ass down."  
"Umm...mint chocolate chip."  
Quill grins. "I should have known."

Scott find a table after telling Quill his preferred ice cream flavor, and before he knew it, he was tucked into Quill's side eating _way_ too much ice cream with him and Stephen (who made it to the ice cream shop within an hour somehow) and having half a dozen wrapped gifts shoved in his direction. Scott's first thought was how Quill and Stephen afforded all of this. Were allowances a thing too? Just how much was he really missing out on in his life?

================

Scott fumbles with the zipper of his hoodie as he walks toward his locker the morning of his first day back at school after spring break ended and finally sheds it when he manages to unzip it. It was starting to get too warm to wear a sweater for very long and Scott was starting to sweat when he made it to school. Quill wasn't at his house at his usual time to pick him up so Scott had to hoof it, assuming the older boy was running late, but he would see him before classes started or at lunch. When he arrived at his locker though, he found Stephen waiting for him and the older boy looked worried. Even more so when he noticed Scott.

"Scott...when's the last time you saw Quill?" Stephen asks as the younger opens his locker and stashes his sweater in it.  
"The day after my birthday I think. Why?"

Scott looks back at Stephen and feels his blood run cold when he recognizes sympathy and sorrow in blue irises. Something was wrong. Is that why Stephen looked even more upset when he saw Scott? Because Quill wasn't with him? Now that he paid attention to the students around him, they were all giving Scott accusatory stares and he didn't even know why. Him dating Quill was old news and even Rachel seemed to have given up or at least backed off when the senior didn't show any intention of breaking up with Scott.

"Why?" Scott asks again.  
Stephen inhales. "Scott...he's…"  
"Stephen...what's going on?"  
"Quill's missing. His grandfather filed a missing persons report on him four days ago." Stephen whispers.

Scott felt his world crumple around him.


	14. Chapter 14

Quill's car was found abandoned at the grocery store and according to the police, and the news, the cameras showed him walking back to his car once he left the store and then he suddenly vanished into thin air. The video was somehow releases to the press and when they showed it on tv, it really was like Quill vanished. One second he was carrying a bag to his car and pulling his keys out of his pocket, and the next he was gone. Not even his bag of groceries was left behind as proof that he was there. Just his car. When Quill didn't return home after running an errand for his grandfather, the elder Quill went to the police to report him missing.

After just a _month_ of active searching, the police had to call it off because they had no leads or evidence to work with. The remaining time Scott spent in high school was never the same after that. He regressed back to invisibility after everyone that bothered to remember he dated Quill graduated, and school was only bearable until Stephen graduated the next year. Actually life itself was only bearable because of his friend. Stephen always made sure to keep an eye on him and visit often during the long periods that Scott's parents weren't home.

When Scott finally graduated from high school, he started looking for a job because even though he was offered scholarships for his good grades, it wouldn't pay for everything. He didn't plan on going to college because he couldn't even apply for loans. His parents obviously didn't put anything aside for him so he had to jump straight into getting a job.

That was until Stephen came to his house one day with a letter. He said nothing as he handed it over to Scott and the younger read it with wide eyes. A full ride scholarship to a college of his choice. When Scott read who was offering it, his jaw dropped. 

It was from Stark Industries.

"H-How...what…?!"   
"Tony knows about your situation."  
"How do you know Tony St--" Scott's eyes widen even more. "Are you _dating him_?! How long have you two been--?!"  
"Since I was eighteen. Relax. I wanted to help you get away from here." Stephen says quietly.

It wasn't the only reason Stephen visited either. He looked distraught and when Scott asked him what was wrong, his friend actually burst into tears and told him that his sister was gone. That she drowned and he felt responsible for her death. Scott didn't know what to do besides hug Stephen and let him cry himself out. It was the very least he could do for him.

It wasn't the only time Stephen came through for him either. Scott had things that he couldn't take to college with him so they got him a storage unit for his things, and while the two packed his things, Scott came across the teddy bear that he threw into the far corner of his closet after Quill went missing and he stared at it for a couple of minutes. He never forgot about him, he couldn't, but having the teddy bear as a constant reminder of what he didn't have anymore? He had to put it somewhere he wouldn't see it. It only brought him pain whenever he saw it. Finding it in the closet was no different. Cinnamon went into the storage unit as well because Scott couldn't bring himself to throw him away. He could only handle the woven bracelet he still wore to this day. He almost never took it off.

He graduated college with a master's degree in electrical engineering and it was shortly after that when he met Maggie. She was the first person since Quill's disappearance to make Scott feel like living again. He told her about him too. About what his living situation was like up until he graduated high school and how supportive he and Stephen had been, and she accepted every bit of it. She understood why Scott always wore the black bracelet and never asked him to take it off. Even after they got married. Scott was finally happy again after years of going through life on autopilot. 

When his daughter Cassie was born, Scott vowed to never neglect her like his parents did to him. He would always do what he could for her or die trying and Stephen had continued to be supportive. He was glad Scott found some normalcy in his life and often called if he couldn't visit (since Scott permanently stayed in San Francisco), and he and Tony sent gifts on proper birthdays and holidays for the family. Scott finally had a proper family.

Until money got tight. 

Cassie was four when Scott turned to the life of a thief to support his family. He was good at it and it helped, but then he caught wind of Vista Corp practically robbing everyone so he hacked into the system to rob the company of millions of dollars to give back to the people...but he got caught. Even with Tony's influence, the billionaire could only have his sentence shortened to five years in prison. Halfway through the first year, Maggie sent him divorce papers and Scott broke all over again. First Quill, now Maggie? Was he not meant to be happy?

He asked Maggie why when she came to visit him to pick up the papers.

"It was a long time coming Scott. I can't be with someone who resorts to thievery to support his family, no matter how well you meant by it...and I know you loved me...but you didn't love me with all your heart."  
Scott was shocked. "Of course I did! You and Cassie both!"  
"Scott...we never should have gotten married in the first place. You couldn't love me with all your heart because part of it died when _he_ did."

Quill was presumed dead ten years after his disappearance, and Maggie was right. When Scott heard the new update about Quill's cold case, part of his heart shriveled up and never recovered. That part of Scott was still _hoping_ that his first love would turn up, but that announcement shattered what was left of his hope. Stephen called him that very day and stayed on until he was sure Scott would be okay.

Scott was out of prison after serving three of his five years and after trying to find a job with his record, he had to resort to stealing again when Maggie and her new husband kept him from seeing Cassie until he had a job and his own place. That was when he was pulled into being Antman. He helped Hank Pym and his daughter prevent Darren Cross from creating the Yellowjacket, went subatomic to protect Cassie from him, and managed to return from something supposedly he shouldn't have been able to return from.

Then there was the fight between the Avengers at the airport in Germany. Scott was just asked for his help and he took the Ant-Man suit to help Captain America and his friend. He didn't know he would be fighting against the very man that helped pay for his college education and get him out of an abusive home. Scott told Tony that when the billionaire visited them on the Raft and apologized, and Tony pulled some strings so Scott would get away with a couple years of house arrest.

Then Stephen got into a car accident shortly after and went missing, and he only knew that because Tony knew how much the doctor meant to Scott. At that point, Cassie was the only reason Scott kept going because someone else he cared for, loved as a brother, went missing too and he was sure that it would be Quill all over again. Thankfully that wasn't the case though, Stephen emailed him shortly after and told him he was okay and not to worry, and Scott heaved the biggest sigh of relief he made in his life.

Just a few days before his house arrest was over, Scott helped Hank and Hope with the Quantum tunnel to get Hope's mother back from the Quantum Realm. After barely managing to make it home before his parole officer, he was finally taken off house arrest and he and Cassie moved to New York when Maggie and Paxton asked Scott to take her in full time so they could travel. She was excited about the move and the fact that she would be able to see Stephen whenever she wanted, and when they made it to the tower, he was the first person they went to see.

Scott, of course, threw his arms around the older man the moment he saw Stephen, and the hug was reciprocated instantly.

In front of all of the Avengers. All of them. Even the ones that fought with Tony two years ago.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you." Scott whispers.  
Sam clears his throat from the living room. "Um...why is Strange nice to Tic-tac?"  
Tony snorts as he sips his coffee. "They have a history. Stephen practically raised him since he was fifteen."  
"That sounds a little overdramatic." Clint says and Stephen looks over at him.  
"Actually, it's extremely accurate."  
"Please don't." Scott mumbles to the _now_ sorcerer.  
"We won't. Let's get you down to your floor and situated."

Scott nods and moves away from Stephen and he and Cassie follow the doctor to the elevator and down to Scott's personal floor. The sorcerer shows Cassie her room first and the men leave her to unpack her things and get comfortable while Stephen shows Scott the master bedroom. The moment he opened the door, the younger man froze when he saw what was sitting on the bed. It was Cinnamon. When Scott stepped closer to touch the teddy bear, he got a whiff of the spice the toy was named after and tears threatened to spill from golden-hazel eyes. Cinnamon looked brand new. Like he hadn't been in storage for eighteen years.

"There's a quirk to being the Sorcerer Supreme and protector of the Time Stone." Stephen says softly. "He looked a lot worse when Tony and I got your things out of storage."

For a few minutes, Scott was fifteen again. He just got home from Quill's house after Christmas and the teddy bear was just his boyfriend's temporary replacement until he visited again or saw him at school. The hallucination quickly died away though when he remembered that wasn't the case anymore. Scott would never see Quill again. Twenty years was too long to have hope your missing boyfriend would come home.

"He's dead Stephen." Scott finally says. "I'm not getting him back."  
"I know. I just thought it could help you remember that I'm not the only reason you're where you are today. I'm convinced that you were close to...you know."  
Scott nods. "...I think I was too. So thanks for saving me from myself."  
"If you need anything just ask FRIDAY or Victor for me or Tony." Stephen says and Scott looks back over at him.  
"Victor?"  
"Tony made me an AI. I named him after my brother."  
"Right...you mentioned the accident. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." Scott sighs and leans his head against Stephen's shoulder when the older man approaches him and hugs him again.  
"It's okay. Tony was. I had you when I lost Donna...just like you had me when you lost him."

Scott was grateful for what Stephen did for him. He was grateful for Tony's generosity too. If it weren't for them, Scott would probably still be living at his parents house and mourning over Quill. In all honesty, he probably wouldn't even be alive right now. But he was, and he no longer felt neglected anymore. He may feel touch starved again, but he had people that cared about him and made sure he knew it.

As far as he knew, his parents never asked about him after he moved out while they were out of town again, and that thought only hurt Scott a little bit. They were never his family. Stephen and Quill were, and after Quill went missing, it was just Stephen. Then Tony, Maggie, Cassie...his family was growing little by little even if relationships never worked out. He didn't bother with Hope because she had her own catching up to do with her mother and Scott didn't want to only give her half of his heart like he did with Maggie. Scott could live with being single for the rest of his life as long as he could keep the family he had now.

"Daddy!" Cassie calls from Scott's bedroom door and he pulls away from Stephen to look at her. "I'm hungry."  
"If you can wait a little longer you can have dinner upstairs with us." Stephen says as he walks over and crouches in front of her. "Spaghetti?"  
"With garlic bread?" Cassie asks.  
"Of course. My kids would throw a fit if I didn't make garlic bread too."

Scott's eyes widen when his best friend mentions having kids.

" _Your kids?!_ I thought you didn't like kids? Wait...where was I when...I'm so confused." Scott blurts out.  
"I'll explain at dinner." Stephen says with a smirk in Scott's direction. "One hour."  
Stephen stands up and pats Cassie's head as he passes her. "Thank you Mama Bear!"

Scott gawks.

_WHAT?!_


	15. Chapter 15

The peace with his 'family' didn't last long. While Scott flew back to San Francisco to help the Pym's collect some healing particles for Ava, he got stuck in the Quantum Realm for hours when the family failed to bring him out. When he finally somehow escaped, he didn't find himself on the roof of the building like he thought he would, but in a makeshift storage area. The first thing he did after changing into some of his clothes he and brought on the trip, was call the Pym's to ask why the hell he found himself in a storage unit. No one answered. Just as he was about to call Stephen next, something he saw on his phone stopped him.

Scott wasn't in the Quantum Realm for five hours. He was in it for five _years_. He fought off an anxiety attack as he called his pseudo older brother and got his things (and the van) out of the storage unit, but his call to Stephen went straight to voicemail. His next call was Tony but it went to voicemail as well and Scott started to drive back to New York after that. It took him a few days to get to the tower, but when he arrived it was locked down and looked as if it hadn't seen a human soul in years.

"What the hell?" Scott whispers to himself.

The compound was next and he thankfully found Steve and Natasha there, and that was how he found out about the Snap. He immediately asked about Cassie and they reassured him that she was fine and with Tony at his lakehouse, but when he asked about Stephen, they grew suspiciously quiet.

"Guys?"  
Natasha was the one to finally answer. "Scott...he was one of the victims."

Scott's blood ran cold. He lost Stephen too? The first person to show him what a family should really be like and took care of him when no one else would? What did he ever so to deserve this? The world took away his first love and now it took Stephen? Was Cassie next?

Then he remembered the Quantum Realm.

"Can you take me to them? I need to see Cassie...and I need to talk to Tony. I have an idea that he might be able to help with."

Steve and Natasha nod and they get into the captain's car and drive to the lakehouse, and when they arrive, they see Tony holding a little girl on his hip. It was Diana. She had been spared from the Snap and grew up while Scott had been stuck. It only reminded him that he missed out on five years of Cassie's life after he promised himself he wouldn't do to her what his parents did to him. That was what motivated him to get out of the car and rush over to a very surprised Tony.

"Scott?!"  
"Where's Cassie?" Scott demands and before Tony can answer, the door opens and a teenaged girl pokes her head out.  
"Hey! Lunch is ready! Are you coming or--" Scott passes Tony and steps closer to the porch to get a better look and the teenager suddenly bolts out of the house and over to him. "Dad?!"  
"Cassie?" Scott breathes out as he grabs her face and looks her over. "You're so big!"

He brings her into a tight hug, apologizing endlessly for being gone for so long, and bless her heart, she forgave him instantly. She told him it wasn't his fault when he gave her the (valid) excuse that he was stuck in the Quantum Realm, and held her for a good couple of minutes before he finally turned to Tony with his idea. The billionaire was skeptical at first, but after the girls went upstairs to play and let the adults talk, they discussed the time heist idea more.

"Tony, you've done a lot for me that I can't even begin to start paying you back for, but please. Do me this favor and at least try. Stephen doesn't just mean something to me, but to you too. Do it for me. For yourself...for everyone that lost someone."  
Tony shakes his head. "Scott, I can't risk losing what I have left."  
"Look...I know what it's like to have someone you love taken away from you, but with Stephen, with _everyone_ , we might have a chance to bring them back. Mine is gone forever but yours isn't. I know if I could have the same chance, I would at least try." Scott says with a hint of sadness.  
"Twenty-five years is a long time to suffer from a broken heart." Tony mutters and Scott sighs.  
"Trust me. It doesn't get better. Not really. You just find a way to ignore the pain."  
"Here I thought life gave _me_ a crappy hand." Tony says as he rubbed his hand over his face. "I'll look into it, but I can't promise anything."

================

Tony found a way to travel through time using the Quantum Realm, and Clint was able to successfully bring something from the past and confirm that Tony's time-space GPS worked. That was when everyone got together and started discussing where some of them came across each infinity stone. Thor was first with the Reality stone, and Scott sympathized with him when he talked about how he lost his mother when the Reality stone was still in its aether form and stuck inside his ex-girlfriend. Life sucked for all of them at one point. They all lost someone or something in their lives, and that included the victims of the Snap.

Rocket was the one to bring up the Power stone while they ate Chinese for lunch.

"I kind of know where the Power stone can be found. Quill said he stole it from--"  
Scott chokes on his mouthful of chow mein and wipes his mouth as he looks up at the talking raccoon. "What did you just say?"  
"Power stone. Pay attention humie."  
" _After that!_ " Scott pleads.  
Rocket gives him a funny look. "Not much? I mentioned Quill."  
Scott felt himself pale. "Quill? Peter Quill?"  
"Yeah. You know him?" Rocket asks him and if Scott weren't sitting, he would have worried that he would collapse.

As it was, the panic crashed down on him and left him hyperventilating. He heard some concerned questions as he tried to get his breathing back under control, but he just had one question on repeat. Why didn't Quill come home if he was alive?

"Scott!" The thief gasps and he focuses on the hand that grips his shoulder until the attack finally ebbs away and finds Tony leaning over him. "You alright?"  
"Why didn't he come home?" Scott whispers, feeling fifteen and vulnerable all over again.  
"Wait a minute. Was Quill…?" Tony asks and Scott nods after he swallows thickly. "Okay...okay. We'll finish that discussion after this. Just breathe for now."

Scott releases a shaky breath and motions for Rocket to continue, and listens to the rest of what he and the others have to say about the locations of the stones. As soon as they figure out where they need to go and who would be on what team, Scott couldn't get out of the building fast enough. He found a bench to sit on and laid his head in his hands as he kept wondering all the whys to himself, and felt his heart break all over again. 

Why didn't Quill come home? All this time he was alive and in those twenty years that Scott continuously mourned for him, he couldn't come back once? Was he lying when he said he loved Scott? It was possible. They were only in high school. Only kids. It was very rare for high school relationships to last.

"It suddenly makes a lot of sense." Tony says once he leaves the compound and walks over to Scott.  
"What?" The younger croaks out and clears his throat.  
"Why Stephen risked hurting his hand to punch a seemingly random stranger. Me, Stephen, and Peter came across Quill and a couple of his friends while out in space. When Quill introduced himself to us, Stephen suddenly got really mad and punched him, and then yelled at him. Then they both started yelling but I couldn't tell you what it was about." Tony explains as Rocket joins them.  
"Did he...did he ask about me?" Scott wonders quietly as Rocket stands next to the billionaire.  
"He talked about you. A lot." The raccoon answers. "He was trying to get home to you."  
"Twenty years?"  
"I don't know the whole story, but we're going to get them all back. When we do, you can ask him yourself." Rocket says firmly and smiles. "Maybe punch him for making you wait so long. If you're still waiting that is." He adds as an afterthought.

Scott _was_ waiting. He always had been...and now he had new found hope. Quill could possibly be returned to him and Rocket even confirmed that his (ex?) boyfriend was trying to get back to him. Now the only question was...why did it take so long?

==============

The Quantum tunnel had been destroyed and so had the van. They were running out of ideas to keep the gauntlet out of Thanos's hands, and when the titan got his hands on it anyway, Scott acted before thinking. He shrunk and jumped onto the gauntlet and proceeded to try and pry one of the stones off, giving the power stone a wide berth. As long as he was careful, the other stones would be safer to pull off.

Halfway through prying off the time stone, the reality stone started to glow and Scott's eyes widen as he's forcibly grown back to full size by it and knocked aside by Thanos's fist. He groans when he lands against a pile of rubble and barely manages to roll out of the way when the titan throws another punch at him. Scott briefly wondered why he was attacking him when he could just snap, and then realized the force behind the titan's first punch helped him pry the time stone away from the gauntlet.

The time stone he was currently holding.

"Scott! Get out of there!" Tony yells over the comm as the thief rolls away from another attack.  
Thanos starts to power up the power stone and Scott gasps. "Oh sh--!"

Both he and Thanos pause when someone glowing a bright white and blue light lands heavily in front of Scott, and he stares up at the back of his savior. Whoever this guy was, he was huge, and made Scott feel small. Like he was fifteen and standing next to Quill again. Not only was he huge, but he was strong and resistant to the infinity stones. Thanos had thrown out his gauntleted hand to punch the glowing person with and the man had simply caught it with one of his hands with a low growl.

An ethereal growl.

_It can't be._

"You're a little too power hungry." The man growls out.  
"This is coming from a celestial. I thought your kind were dead." Thanos returns.  
"Surprise bitch."

The glowing man punches Thanos across the field and when his left hand drops to his side again, Scott immediately notices the black woven bracelet peeking out from under the sleeve of his jacket. He would know that bracelet anywhere.

"Quill?" Scott chokes out.

The man didn't have a chance to answer as Thanos was coming back, and Quill rushed forward to meet him and fight him one on one. Punches were thrown and no matter how much the titan tried to break past the celestial to get to Scott, Quill always kept him back. By some miracle, he managed to pull the gauntlet off of Thanos's hand and didn't even hesitate before he put it on his own hand, and the celestial turned to Scott when the glove fitted to his hand.

"Give me the stone." The celestial rumbles and Scott instantly tosses it to him.

Before he could get a good look at him though, the man turned away, set the time stone back in place, and snapped without warning. Scott covers his eyes from the bright light as it spreads across the battlefield, and when it finally fades enough, Scott drops his arm to look up where the celestial and titan had been standing. He watches as the enemy turns to dust around them, and grunts quietly as he stands, ignoring the way his body complains at the action. He was definitely going to feel this for a couple of weeks.

The moment Thanos disappeared along with his army, Quill turns to face Scott and the younger man watches as the strange light in his eyes ebbs away to reveal green irises. Green eyes that Scott would also recognize anywhere and had his own threatening to spill tears. Twenty years (twenty-five including the time he was stuck in the Quantum Realm) he yearned to see Quill again, and by some miracle, he was alive and in front of him. He had a second chance with the person he gave his whole heart to.

"You wouldn't happen to be single right now would you?" Quill asks quietly and Scott acted on instinct.

He rushed over to the man and threw his arms around his neck, and sobbed into his neck when the hug was returned without hesitation. The familiarity of the warmth and the embrace was overwhelming for Scott, but in a good way. He didn't realize how much he truly missed Quill and being held by him until now and he had to hold himself back from just jumping on the man all together. When the hug wasn't enough, Scott pulled Quill down for a kiss and moaned quietly when the celestial tasted every corner of his mouth and then some. It was like Quill had never left but there was one thing missing.

"You don't smell or taste like cinnamon anymore." Scott mumbles after he pulls away and the older man chuckles.  
"Easy fix." Quill removes the gauntlet from his hand so he can reach up and wipe the tears from Scott's face. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you Sugar."  
Scott sniffs and leans into Quill's hand when it rests against his cheek. "The whole glowy thing answers a few of my questions."  
Quill raises an eyebrow. "What questions?"  
"I noticed your eyes flash whenever I was happy, you were really strong even for a football player, and you growled a couple of times and it sounded different." Scott presses his face against Quill's collarbone again and grips the back of his jacket tightly. "You still have a lot of explaining to do...and I think I do too." He says with a whisper.  
"I will. I promise, but let's get home first. I have to brave Stephen's wrath first. He's giving me the stink eye."  
Scott snickers. "This was nice while it lasted."  
"That's reassuring." Quill answers sarcastically.


	16. Chapter 16

Scott was the first to explain himself. Stephen opened a portal to the lakehouse for the Avengers and while the rest walked through, Scott stopped Quill by grabbing his hand and tugging gently. The celestial looks back at him in concern and the younger bites his lip nervously.

"Quill...I thought you were dead. So I tried to move on."  
Quill winces. "Yeah, I figured you might."  
"It didn't last long, but I do have a daughter from that marriage." Scott admits.  
"I gotta earn her blessing huh?"  
"I think she'll like you."

Quill nods in understanding and they step through the portal so Stephen can close it behind them, and they join the others inside as Stephen casts a spell to create enough room to house all of them. Most of them went straight to bed after they changed into regular clothes, but after introducing Cassie to Quill (and having the teenager take the Celestial's presence rather well), she went up to bed and Scott and Quill went outside to sit in the dual lawn chair by the fire pit. Quill throws some logs into it before lighting it, and then throws his arm around Scott when the younger man curls into his side.

"I missed you." Scott murmurs.  
"I missed you too baby." Quill pulls Scott's legs up and across his lap before reaching up with his other hand to massage the back of his neck. 

Just the way Scott liked it. The first affectionate touch he received in his life all those years ago. That was when Quill explained why it took him so long to get back. The first fifteen years were spent gaining the trust of the Ravagers that kidnapped him so he could 'go solo', and the last five were spent saving the galaxy _twice_ and having to start over on saving money to get enough fuel to fly back to earth. He finally managed it. He was so close. He had a new group of friends and allies he’d collected along the way, and they were going to help him get home. But then, Thanos happened. Scott knew what happened after that, but still... hearing him describe what it was like to be dusted, to know that he would never make it home as he faded away... it made Scott shudder.. He told Quill what he went through, and while he wasn't kicked around so he could learn to fight (at least not to the extent Quill was) he had his own pain to deal with. Emotional pain.

"I never meant to hurt you." Quill murmurs into Scott's hair when the younger's head rests against his shoulder.  
"I know. I just never thought I would have you back. I'm a little afraid this is all a dream."  
Quill kisses the top of Scott's head and rubs his arms when he shivers. "Cold?"  
"Only when there's a breeze."  
"Come on. Let's go to bed. It's late and I know you're exhausted. I know I am from using the gauntlet."

Scott gets up with a sleepy nod and heads inside while Quill puts out the fire, and the celestial joins him minutes after Scott finds his bedroom and starts changing into his pajamas. An appreciative purr like noise reaches his ears and he blushes when Quill comes up behind him and stops him from putting on his shirt. Scott shivers as one of Quill's hands trace lean muscles and he instinctively tilts his head to the side when the celestial starts kissing his neck.

"You...always go for my neck." Scott stammers out and feels Quill grin against his neck.  
"It's where your mint and orange smell and taste is most potent. Besides your mouth that is." Quill then grabs his ass and Scott squeaks. "You still make cute noises...and even though you filled out a bit, you're still as beautiful as ever."  
" _I_ filled out?!" Scott turns in Quill's hold and yanks the older man's shirt off. "You nearly doubled in...size...oh my god."

Scott whimpers as he traces his own hands over the firm abdominal muscles and every other finely toned muscle on display, and it almost had him openly drooling. The muscles Quill had in high school were nothing to sneeze at, but now? Scott was pretty sure that Quill could easily snap him in half and he whimpered aloud at the thought. He was bigger, taller, but he still held Scott with such gentleness that he almost didn't notice the change.

"You're a beast." Scott blurts out and Quill chuckles quietly as he nudges the younger man toward the bed.  
"Why don't you throw your shirt somewhere? I want to get reacquainted if that's okay with you."

After twenty years? Hell yes it was okay with him. Scott lived in a colorless world that only had some color to it for a couple of years when Maggie was in the picture, but now Quill was back. His world exploded with color and he wanted to be held by him again. In every way possible.

"You're still wearing it." Quill says as he grabs Scott's wrist with the matching woven band.  
"I almost never took it off."  
"Me too." The celestial kisses the palm of Scott's hand and paused again as he looks at the younger with a grin. "Do you still have Cinnamon?"  
Scott felt himself blush so red that he was pretty sure he had steam coming out of his ears. "...he's sitting on my bed at the tower."  
"Twenty years later and you're still fucking adorable." Quill quips as he pushes Scott down on the bed.

The celestial crawls onto the bed and hovers over the younger, and Scott tilts his head to the side when Quill lowers his head. Instead of mouthing at his neck like he usually did though, he placed gentle kisses on every bruise Scott sustained during the battle, both big and small. When Quill moved on to another one, he left the previous bruise feeling warm and painless, and Scott sat up to look at his bruises curiously.

Except there were none. He watches in amazement as the bruise Quill is currently kissing slowly fades away, and shivers when the celestial looks up at him with galaxy filled eyes.

"H-How did you…?"  
"I was wondering if I could use my healing abilities on you." Quill rumbles. "I have twenty years to make up for hurting you, so I figured I would start with the physical wounds."

Quill took his time with them too. Once he was done with his chest, his abdomen, and his back, the celestial peeled off his pants and got to work with whatever scratch or bruise he could see without taking off Scott's boxers as well. That didn't mean Quill didn't get what he could by moving a bit of his shorts up. He got as far as the inside of Scott's thigh and the younger man shuddered as the warm sensation Quill left behind traveled up to his stirring cock. If he kept this up, Scott would come like he was fifteen again. Without even being touched.

"Quill...stop." He keens.

Scott jumps when Quill immediately flies off of him and the bed and looks over at him in confusion as the Celestial's chest heaves.

"Did I hurt you?!"  
"What? No! I just…" Scott blushes. "At the rate you were going, it would have been over before it started." He mumbles. "I didn't mean stop completely though."

Quill sighs with relief as he returns to his position over Scott, and when he fingers the waistband of Scott's boxers, the younger stops his hands and looks pointedly at Quill's pants. With a grin, the older man removes both pants and boxers and it left Scott staring in fearful apprehension as well as surprise. Quill's upper body wasn't the only area to fill out. His legs had more muscle to them and Scott was one thousand percent sure that his cock was bigger too. He saw it after the first time they had sex and Scott was amazed it was able to fit in the first place, but he was sure it wouldn't fit now.

Before he could fully panic about it, Quill was back to fingering his boxers, his eyes silently asking for permission, and Scott could only nod. Twenty years gave Scott time to grow out of his shell, and while he wasn't nearly as skittish as he was when he was in high school, he still appreciated that Quill didn't push. The man just proved thirty seconds ago that he would stop if Scott asked him to and it really showed how much he still cared about the younger man.

Quill slowly peels off his boxers, placing gentle love bites along the inside of his thighs as they went, and the younger's cock was begging for attention by the end of it. The shorts went flying somewhere in the room and Scott couldn't give two shits because Quill had given him a single lick as warning before taking him in his mouth. Scott shouts out in pleasure and immediately smacks his hand over his mouth when the part of his brain that was swimming in bliss remembered there were others in the house and the walls weren't soundproof, and Quill _purrs_ around his cock in amusement. The vibrations drowned the rest of his clarity and Scott was completely at Quill's mercy as he tried his damndest _not_ to spill his load down the Celestial's throat.

His effort earned him a couple beads of sweat that formed at his temples and rolled down into his hair, and just as Scott was about to lose what little control he had, Quill finally released him. Scott exhales heavily as he gets back some of his control, and almost cries out again when Quill crooks one of his fingers and presses against the bundle of nerves inside--

_Hold on. When did he get his fingers in?!_

"Q-Quill…" Scott pants out.  
"Just a second Sugar."

Scott whimpers at the mix of a southern drawl and celestial growl and doesn't even notice Quill slicking up his own cock. He does notice when thick fingers withdraw from inside him and almost whines at the loss until something much bigger lines up against him and Scott stiffens. It was definitely bigger. Twenty years may have passed, but Scott remembered that day like it was yesterday.

"Do you still trust me?" Quill asks when he moves back up to press kisses all over Scott's face.  
"...yes." He whispers in response.

He relaxes as much as he possibly can while he enjoys the attention Quill was giving him on his face and parts of his neck, and covers his mouth as the celestial starts to push in. As soon as he's buried to the hilt, Scott wheezes at the feeling of the slight burn, being stretched what seemed beyond his limits, and being filled. Filled wasn't the right word. He was being stuffed, and when the burn finally fades to a manageable level, Scott moans into his hand when the pleasure finally took over. If he was feeling good now, he was probably going to be fucked stupid when Quill actually started moving.

"Fuck baby...you feel so good." Quill groans into his ear.

Scott could only moan into his hand again at Quill's words. He didn't trust his mouth to tell the older man what he wanted, so Scott resorted to bucking his hips to let Quill know that he could start moving. The first thrust had him wheezing, and the rest had him seeing stars. All Scott could feel was Quill's natural body heat enveloping him as he rocked into him, his pants against his neck whenever the celestial wasn't devouring his mouth, and when Quill had beads of sweat forming at his temples, Scott smelled it.

Cinnamon.

Anyone else had to be waiting for it because of how faint it was, but to Scott it was potent. A feral part of him wanted to stop the celestial so he could lick and suck at Quill's neck in the hopes that he could get a taste of the spice, but the rest of him was too busy enjoying being held. Being loved. 

Receiving a pounding that Scott wasn't quite sure he could walk away from and that was just fine. 

As he felt himself getting closer to the edge, Scott grips the bed sheets beneath him and opens his mouth to moan loudly, and thankfully Quill covered his mouth with his own and swallowed it down. The others wouldn't be very happy about being woken up in the middle of the night because Scott couldn't keep quiet.

He reaches toward his cock with the intention to stroke it in time to Quill's thrusts, but the celestial grabs his wrist and pins it to the bed.

" _No_." He growls out with his godly resonance and Scott whimpers. "You come untouched."

Quill releases his wrist, remaining aware of Scott's needs and making sure the younger man didn't feel trapped, and Scott instead lifts his hands to grip the back of Quill's head by his hair. When the celestial doesn't complain, he brings Quill down for a kiss when he feels another moan starting to surface, and the celestial goes willingly. He nipped and sucked on Scott's lower lip as his thrusts became faster and more erratic, and just before Scott came, Quill moved back to his neck, kissed along it briefly…

And then bit down.

Scott had never come so hard in his life. Quill didn't bite hard enough to draw blood, but it would definitely leave a hickey and the pain from the bite mixed so nicely with the pleasure that Scott couldn't hold back anymore. He came with a loud groan that neither he nor Quill had time to stop, and clenched so tightly around the celestial that he came just a few seconds later. Scott pants heavily as he slowly comes down from cloud nine and finds that Quill had collapsed on top of him and was currently trying to catch his breath with his forehead pressed against Scott's collarbone.

When Scott gently pried his fingers out of Quill's hair, the celestial manages to grunt out a 'don't', and Scott ends up giving him a scalp massage. Quill rumbles in satisfaction as they lay like that for a few minutes, and Scott grimaces once the celestial garners enough energy to pull out. He reluctantly leaves the bed and wraps a blanket around his waist before leaving the bedroom to find something to clean up with, and Scott drifts off until he suddenly feels a warm washcloth wiping him down. He startles out of his light sleep at the strange feeling, but quickly relaxes again when Quill kisses his forehead.

"Sorry, Sugar. I didn't mean to scare you or wake you up." The celestial whispers.  
"'S okay…" Scott mumbles.  
"Can you move so I can finish cleaning up?"  
"Hnn."

Quill huffs out a chuckle and helps roll Scott onto his side, and the younger starts to drift off again while the celestial finishes cleaning up. The bed eventually dips under Quill's weight again when he lays back down, and Scott hums with contentment when the older man pulls him against his chest. 

"Scott?"  
"Hmm?"  
"I never stopped loving you." Quill whispers.  
"Neither did I." Scott admits quietly and smiles when the celestial places a kiss on his shoulder.  
"When we get home--"  
"I am home." Scott interrupts and Quill falls silent behind him.

Home had been with Quill ever since that first time he showed him physical affection, and after twenty-five years of looking for a home and family, he finally realized it had been with him all this time. Scott had Quill back, and he had Cassie...and he was finally, _finally_ happy.

_Sometimes the thing you're searching for your whole life is right there by your side all along._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end! I just want to thank those that stuck with it until the end and left me comments. You kept me motivated, and you guys are the reason this story kept going (and got finished)! I hope you guys enjoyed this!
> 
> If anyone wondered, this story WAS based on personal experience, but actually tamer. There was no romance or best friend to go to. There were other things too but I won't go into detail. If this hits close to home for you, just know that even if you feel alone (or are alone) in your struggle, you will make it through. Just keep fighting.
> 
> I also want to thank Daisy_PoisonPen for helping me through a couple of small blocks while working on this!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Broken Odds](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22157134) by [ElisaPhoenix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElisaPhoenix/pseuds/ElisaPhoenix)




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